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ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


JACOB     ABBOTT. 


o>»-fi 


NEW    YORK: 
S  H  IC  L  D  O  INT    &    COMPANY, 

3  3  5    B  K  O  A  D  W  A  Y  . 

1864. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863,  by 

JACOB    AJBBOTT, 

[d  the  Clerk'g  Office  of  tha  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts 


STMREOTYPED  AT  THK 
BOSTON     STEREOTYPE     PODNHRJ. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  series  of  narratives  to  which  this  volume 
pertains,  we  offer  to  the  readers  of  the  Rollo  Books 
a  continuation  of  the  history  of  our  little  hero,  by 
giving  them  an  account  of  the  adventures  which  such 
a  boy  may  be  supposed  to  meet  with  in  making  a  tour 
in  Europe.  The  books  are  intended  to  be  books  of 
instruction  rather  than  of  mere  amusement;  and  in 
perusing  them,  the  reader  may  feel  assured  that  all 
the  information  which  they  contain,  not  only  in  respect 
to  the .  countries  visited,  and  to  the  customs,  usages, 
and  modes  of  life  that  are  described,  but  also  in  regard 
to  the  general  character  of  the  incidents  and  adven- 
tures that  the  young  travellers  meet  with,  is  in  most 
strict  accordance  with  fact.  The  main  design  of  the 
narratives  is,  thus,  the  communication  of  useful  knowl- 
edge ;  and  every  thing  which  they  contain,  except 
what  is  strictly  personal,  in  relation  to  the  actors  in 
the  story,  may  be  depended  upon  as  exactly  and  scru- 
pulously true. 

New  York,  September,  1853. 

(!) 


OBDEK  OP  THE  VOLUMES 

KOLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 
EOLLO  IN  PARIS. 
KOLLO  IN  SWITZERLAND. 
EOLLO  IN  LONDON. 
KOLLO  ON  THE  EHINB. 
EOLLO  IN  SCOTLAND. 
EOLLO  IN   GENEVA. 
EOLLO  IN  HOLLAND. 
EOLLO  IN  NAPLES. 
EOLLO  IN  SOME. 


PRINCIPAL  PEBSONS  OP  THE  STOBY. 

Eotx.0 ;  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  ;  Eollo's  father  and  mother,  travelling  n 

Europe. 
Tiianny  ;  Eollo's  younger  brother. 
Jane  ;  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George  ;  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  ancle. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAFTEK  PAOS 

I.— Taking  Passage, 11 

II.  — The  Embarkation, 28 

III.  —  Departure, 47 

IV.  —  Getting  Settled, 62 

V.  — On  Deck 77 

VI.— A  Conversation, , 91 

VII.  —  Incidents,  . 109 

VIII — The  Storm, 131 

IX.  —  The  Passengers' Lottery,  . 154 

X.— The  End  of  the  Lottery, 179 

XI.  — The  Arrival, 192 


ENGRAVINGS. 


Frontispiece.  page 

The  Steamer  at  the  Wharf, 10 

The  Pier, 24 

The  Rescue, 44 

The  Pilot  on  the  Paddle  Box, 54 

The  Sailor  on  the  Pigging, 87 

The  Passenger  on  the  Rigging, 103 

hllbert  and  the  bird, 124 

Hilbert  in  the  Spray, 152 

Heaving  the  Log 164 

(9) 


THE   STEAMER  AT  THE   WHARF. 


ROLLO  ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


Chapter  I. 
Taking   Passage. 

Rollo's  cousin  Jane.  His  father  and  mother  in  Europe. 

WHEN  Rollo  was  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  lie  made  a  voyage  to  Europe  un* 
der  rather  extraordinary  circumstances.  He 
went  alone  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  had  no  one  to 
take  care  of  him.  In  fact,  in  addition  to  being 
obliged  to  take  care  of  himself,  he  had  also  his 
little  sister  Jane  to  take  care  of ;  for  she  went 
with  him.*  The  way  it  happened  that  two  such 
children  were  sent  to  sea  on  such  a  long  voyage, 
without  any  one  to  have  them  in  charge,  was  this. 
Hollo's  father  and  mother  had  gone  to  Europe 

*  It  ought  here  to  be  stated,  that  Jane  was  not  really  Rollo's 
sister,  though  he  always  called  her  and  considered  her  so.  She 
was  really  his  cousin.  Her  father  and  mother  had  both  died  when 
she  was  about  six  years  old,  and  then  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday  had 
adopted  her  as  their  own  child,  so  that  ever  since  that  time  she 
had  lived  with  Rollo  and  Nathan  as  their  sister.  She  was  very 
nearly  of  the  same  age  with  Nathan. 

(11) 


12  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Why  Mr.  Holiday  went  to  Europe.  Thanny. 

to  make  a  tour,  a  year  before  this  time,  and  had 
taken  Hollo's  brother  Nathan,  or  Thanny,  as 
Rollo  used  most  frequently  to  call  him,  with 
them.  They  had  gone  partly  for  pleasure,  but 
more  especially  on  account  of  Mr.  Holiday's 
health,  which  was  not  good.  It  was  thought 
that  the  voyage,  and  the  recreation  and  pleasure 
of  travelling  in  Europe,  would  be  a  benefit  to 
him.  In  certain  cases  where  a  person's  health  is 
impaired,  especially  when  one  is  slowly  recover- 
ing from  past  sickness,  nothing  is  found  to  have 
a  more  beneficial  effect  upon  the  patient  than  for 
him  to  go  away  somewhere  and  have  a  good 
time.  It  was  determined  to  try  the  effect  of  this 
remedy  upon  Mr.  Holiday,  and  so  he  went  to  Eu- 
rope. Mrs.  Holiday  went  with  him.  They  took 
Thanny  too,  to  be  company  for  them  on  the  way. 
Thanny  was  at  this  time  about  seven  years  old. 

A  child  of  that  age,  for  a  travelling  compan- 
ion, is  sometimes  a  source  of  great  pleasure,  and 
sometimes,  on  the  other  hand,  he  is  the  means  of 
great  annoyance  and  vexation.  This  depends 
upon  whether  he  is  obedient,  patient,  quiet,  and 
gentle  in  his  manners  and  demeanor,  or  noisy, 
inconsiderate,  wilful,  and  intractable.  A  great 
many  children  act  in  such  a  manner,  whenever 
they  take  a  journey  or  go  out  to  ride  with  their 
parents,  that  their  parents,  in  self-defence,  are 


Taking  Passage.  13 

The  reason  why  they  took  Nathan. 

obliged  to  adopt  the  plan  of  almost  always  con' 
triving  to  leave  them  behind. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  with  Nathan.  He  waa 
an  excellent  boy  in  travelling,  and  always  made 
the  ride  or  the  journey  more  pleasant  for  those 
who  took  him  with  them.  This  was  the  reason 
why,  when  it  was  determined  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Holiday  should  go  to  England,  that  Mrs.  Holi- 
day was  very  desirous  that  Nathan  should  go  too. 
And  so  far  a3  Nathan  was  concerned,  the  voyage 
and  the  tour  proved  to  be  all  that  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Holiday  expected  or  desired.  In  regard  to  oth- 
er points,  however,  it  was  less  successful.  Mr. 
Holiday  did  not  improve  in  health,  and  he  did 
not  have  a  good  time.  Mrs.  Holiday  was  anxious 
about  her  husband's  health,  and  she  was  uneasy 
too  at  being  separated  so  long  from  her  other 
two  children,  —  Rollo  and  little  Jane,  especially 
little  Jane,  —  whom  she  had  learned  to  love  as 
if  she  were  really  her  daughter.  So,  before  the 
year  was  ended,  they  both  heartily  wished  them- 
selves back  in  America  again. 

But  now  Mr.  Holiday's  health  grew  worse,  and 
he  seemed  too  ill  to  return.  This  was  in  the 
month  of  May.  It  was  decided  by  the  physician, 
that  it  would  not  be  best  for  him  to  attempt  to 
return  until  September,  and  perhaps  not  until 
the  following  spring.     Mrs.  Holiday  was  herself 


14  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Mrs.  Holiday  proposes  a  new  plan. 

very  much  disappointed  at  this  result.  She,  how- 
ever, submitted  to  it  very  cheerfully.  "  I  must 
be  as  good  as  Thanny,"  said  she.  "  He  submits 
patiently  to  his  disappointments,  and  why  should 
not  I  submit  to  mine.  His  are  as  great,  I  sup- 
pose, for  him  to  bear  as  mine  are  for  me." 

When  Mrs.  Holiday  found  that  she  could  not 
go  to  her  children,  she  began  to  be  very  desirous 
that  her  children  should  come  to  her.  She  was 
at  first  almost  afraid  to  propose  such  a  thing  to 
her  husband,  as  she  did  not  see  how  any  possible 
plan  could  be  formed  for  bringing  Rollo  and 
Jane  across  the  wide  and  boisterous  Atlantic 
alone.  She,  however,  at  length  one  day  asked 
Mr.  Holiday  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  in 
some  way  to  accomplish  it. 

Mr.  Holiday  seemed  half  surprised  and  half 
pleased  when  he  heard  this  pre po sal.  At  first 
he  did  not  appear  to  know  exactly  what  to  say, 
or  even  to  think.  He  sat  looking  into  the  fire, 
which  was  blazing  in  the  grate  before  him,  lost 
apparently  in  a  sort  of  pleasing  abstraction., 
There  was  a  faint  smile  upon  his  countenance, 
but  he  did  not  speak  a  word. 

"  That  is  an  idea ! "  he  said,  at  length,  in  a 
tone  of  satisfaction.     "  That  is  really  an  idea ! " 

Mrs.  Holiday  did  not  speak.  She  awaited  in 
Bilence,  and  with  no  little  anxiety,  the  result  of 
her  husband's  meditations. 


Taking  Passage.  15 

Objections  considered.  Mr.  Holiday's  opinion. 

"  That  is  really  quite  an  idea ! "  he  said  at  length. 
"  Let  us  get  Rollo  and  Jane  here,  and  then  we 
shall  feel  entirely  easy,  and  can  return  to  Amer- 
ica whenever  we  get  ready,  be  it  sooner  or  later. 
We  shall  be  at  home  at  once  where  we  are." 

"I  suppose  it  will  cost  something  to  have  them 
come  over,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday.  She  was  not  so 
anxious  to  have  the  children  come  as  to  desire 
that  the  question  should  be  decided  without  hav- 
ing all  the  objections  fully  considered.  Besides, 
she  was  afraid  that  if  the  question  were  to  be 
decided  hastily,  without  proper  regard  to  the 
difficulties  that  were  in  the  way,  there  would  be 
danger  that  it  would  be  reconsidered  after  more 
mature  reflection,  and  the  decision  reversed.  So 
she  wished  that  every  thing  that  could  be  brought 
against  the  project  should  be  fully  taken  into  the 
account  at  the  outset. 

"  I  suppose,"  said  she,  "  that  their  expenses  in 
coming  out,  and  in  returning,  and  in  remaining 
here  with  us,  in  the  interim,  would  amount  to  a 
considerable  sum." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Holiday  ;  "  but  that  is  of  no 
consequence." 

"  I  don't  know  what  we  should  do  about  hav- 
ing them  taken  care  of  on  the  passage,"  added 
Mrs.  Holiday. 

"0,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  about  that," 


16  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  plan  is  fully  formed.  The  arrangements. 

said  Mr.  Holiday.  "  George  could  easily  find 
some  passenger  coming  out  in  the  ship,  who  would 
look  after  them  while  at  sea,  I  have  no  doubt. 
And  if  he  should  not  find  any  one,  it  would  be 
of  no  consequence.  Rollo  could  take  care  of 
himself." 

"  And  of  Jane,  too  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mr.  Holiday,  "  and  of  Jane,  too  ; 
that  is,  with  the  help  of  the  chambermaids.  They 
have  excellent  chambermaids  on  board  the  At- 
lantic steamers." 

So  it  was  concluded  to  send  for  Rollo  and 
Jane  to  embark  on  board  the  steamer  at  New 
York,  and  sail  for  Europe.  Mr.  Holiday  wrote 
to  Rollo 's  uncle  George,  requesting  him  to  make 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  voyage,  and 
then  to  take  the  children  to  New  York,  and  put 
them  on  board.  He  was  to  commit  them,  if  pos- 
sible, to  the  charge  of  some  one  of  the- passen- 
gers on  board  the  ship.  If,  for  any  reason,  he 
should  not  succeed  in  finding  any  passenger  to 
take  care  of  them,  he  was  to  state  the  case  to 
the  captain  of  the  ship,  that  he  might  see  to  them 
a  little  from  time  to  time  ;  and,  in  addition  to  this, 
he  was  to  put  them  under  the  special  charge  of 
one  of  the  chambermaids,  promising  her  that  she 
should  be  well  rewarded  for  her  services,  on  the 
arrival  of  the  ship  in  Liverpool. 


Taking  Passage.  17 

Portable  suppers.  Tiger  and  her  cage.  Color  of  the  kitten. 

The  important  tidings  of  the  determination 
which  had  been  made,  that  Rollo  and  Jane  should 
actually  cross  the  Atlantic,  were  first  announced 
to  the  children  one  evening  near  the  end  of  May. 
They  were  eating  their  supper  at  the  time,  seat- 
ed on  a  stone  seat  at  the  bottom  of  the  garden, 
where  there  was  a  brook.  Their  supper,  as  it 
consisted  of  a  bowl  of  bread  and  milk  for  each, 
was  very  portable  ;  and  they  had  accordingly 
gone  down  to  their  stone  seat  to  eat  it,  as  they 
often  did  on  pleasant  summer  evenings.  The  stone 
seat  was  in  such  a  position  that  the  setting  sun 
shone  very  cheerily  upon  it.  On  this  occasion, 
Rollo  had  finished  his  milk,  and  was  just  going 
down  to  the  brook  by  a  little  path  which  led 
that  way,  in  order  to  see  if  there  were  any  fishes 
in  the  water ;  while  Jane  was  giving  the  last 
spoonful  of  her  milk  to  their  kitten.  On  the 
stone  near  where  Jane  was  sitting  was  a  small 
birdcage.  This  cage  was  one  which  Jane  used 
to  put  her  kitten  in.  The  kitten  was  of  a  mottled 
color,  which  gave  to  its  fur  somewhat  the  appear- 
ance of  spots  ;  and  so  Jane  called  the  little  puss 
her  tiger.  As  it  was  obviously  proper  that  a 
tiger  should  be  kept  in  a  cage,  Jane  had  taken 
a  canary  birdcage,  which  she  found  one  day  in 
the  garret,  and  had  used  it  to  put  the  kitten  in. 
As  she  took  the  precaution  never  tc  keep  the 

B 


18  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hollo  is  greatly  delighted.  His  self-confidence. 

prisoner  shut  up  long  at  a  time,  and  as  she  almost 
always  fed  it  in  the  cage,  the  kitten  generally 
made  no  objections  to  going  in  whenever  Jane 
desired  it. 

"  Here  comes  uncle  George,"  said  Hollo. 

Jane  was  so  busy  pouring  the  spoonful  of  milk 
through  the  bars  of  the  cage  into  a  little  shallow 
basin,  which  she  kept  for  the  purpose  within,  that 
she  could  not  look  up. 

"  He  is  coming  down  through  the  garden," 
added  Rollo  ;  "  and  he  has  got  a  letter  in  his 
hand.     It's  from  mother,  I  know." 

So  saying,  Rollo  began  to  caper  about  with 
delight,  and  then  ran  off  to  meet  his  uncle.  Jane 
finished  the  work  of  pouring  out  the  milk  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  then  followed  him.  They 
soon  came  back  again,  however,  accompanying 
their  uncle,  and  conducting  him  to  the  stone 
seat,  where  the  children  sat  down  to  hear  the 
letter. 

"Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "how  should  you 
like  to  go  to  England  ?  " 

"  To  go  to  England  ?  "  said  Rollo,  in  a  tone  of 
exultation  ;  "  very  much  indeed." 

"  Should  you  dare  to  go  alone  ? "  said  Mr. 
George  ;  "  that  is,  with  nobody  to  take  care  of 
you?" 

"  Yes,  indeed  ! "  said  Rollo,  emphatically.    "  I 


Taking  Passage.  19 

Jane  is  afraid  to  so  to  Europe. 

should  not  need  any  body  to  take  care  of 
me." 

"  I  don't  know  but  you  will  have  to  50,"  said 
Mr.  George  ;  "  and  not  only  take  care  of  your- 
self, but  of  Jane  besides." 

"  Why,  am  I  to  go  too  ?  "  asked  Jane.  As  she 
said  this,  she  began  to  look  quite  alarmed.. 

"  How  should  you  like  the  plan  ?  "  said  Mr. 
George. 

"  0,  I  should  not  dare  to  go,"  said  Jane,  shak- 
ing her  head  with  a  very  serious  air.  "  I  should 
not  dare  to  go  at  all,  unless  I  had  somebody  to 
take  care  of  me  bigger  than  Rollo." 

"  Ha !  "  exclaimed  Rollo,  "  I  could  take  care 
of  you  perfectly  well.  I  could  buy  the  tickets 
and  show  you  down  to  supper,  and  help  you  over 
the  plank  at  the  landings,  and  every  thing  else." 

Rollo's  experience  of  steamer  life  had  been 
confined  to  trips  on  Long  Island  Sound,  or  up 
and  down  the  Hudson  River. 

"  I  suppose  you  would  be  dreadfully  sick  on. 
the  way,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"  0,  no,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  should  not  be  sick. 
What's  the  use  of  being  sick?  Besides,  I  never 
am  sick  in  a  steamboat." 

"  No,"  said  Jane,  shaking  her  head  and  looking 
quite  anxious  ;  "  I  should  not  dare  to  go  with 
you  at  all.     I  should  not  dare  to  go  unless  my 


20  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Submitting  to  destiny.  Jane  makes  a  condition. 

mother  were  here  to  go  with  me  ;  or  my  father, 
at  least." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  have  to  go,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "  whether  you  are  afraid  to  or  not." 

"  That  I  shall  have  to  go  ?  "  repeated  Jane. 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George.  "Your  father 
has  written  me  that  he  is  not  well  enough  to 
come  home,  and  I  am  to  send  you  and  Rollo  out 
in  the  next  steamer.  So  that  you  see  you  have 
nothing  to  say  or  to  do  about  it.  All  you  have 
to  do  is  to  submit  to  destiny." 

Jane  did  not  know  very  precisely  what  was 
meant  by  the  phrase,  submitting  to  destiny  ;  but 
she  understood  very  well  that,  in  this  case,  it 
meant  that  she  must  go  to  England  to  join  her 
father  and  mother,  whether  she  liked  the  plan  or 
not.  She  was  silent  a  moment,  and  looked  very 
thoughtful.  She  then  put  forth  her  hand  to  her 
kitten,  which  was  just  at  that  moment  coming 
out  of  the  cage,  having  finished  drinking  the 
milk  which  she  had  put  there  for  it,  and  took  it 
into  her  lap,  saying  at  the  same  time,  — 

"  Well,  then  I  will  go  ;  only  you  must  let  me 
take  my  Tiger  with  me." 

"  That  you  can  do,"  said  Mr.  George.  "  I  am 
very  willing  to  compromise  the  matter  with  you 
in  that  way.  You  can  take  Tiger  with  you,  if 
you  choose." 


Taking  Passage.  21 

Preparations  necessary  for  going  to  Europe. 

"  And  the  cage  too  ?  "  said  Jane,  putting  her 

hand  upon  the  ling  at  the  top  of  it. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "and  the  cage  too." 
"  Well ! "  said  Jane,  speaking  in  a  tone  of 

great  satisfaction  and  joyousness,  "  then  I  will 

go.     Get  into  the  cage,  Tiger,  and  we'll  go  and 

get  ready." 

The  steamer  was  to  sail  in  about  a  week  from 
this  time.  So  Mr.  George  proceeded  immediate- 
ately  to  New  York  to  engage  passage.  When 
Kollo's  aunt,  who  had  had  the  care  of  him  and 
Jane  during  the  absence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holi- 
day, heard  how  soon  the  steamer  would  sail,  she 
said  that  she  did  not  think  that  that  would  afford 
time  enough  to  get  the  children  ready. 

"  0,  it  takes  no  time,"  said  Mr.  George,  "  to 
get  people  ready  to  go  to  Europe.  Put  into  a 
trunk  plenty  of  plain  common  clothing  for  the 
voyage,  and  the  work  is  done.  As  for  the  rest, 
people  can  generally  find  pretty  much  every  thing 
they  want  on  the  other  side." 

Mr.  George  went  to  New  York  to  engage  the 
passage  for  the  children.  And  inasmuch  as  many 
of  the  readers  of  this  book  who  reside  in  the 
country  may  never  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
witnessing  the  arrangements  connected  with  At- 
lantic steamers,  they  may  perhaps  like  to  know 


22  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Arrangements  at  the  pier.  Tickets  of  admission. 

how  this  was  done.  In  the  first  place,  it  was 
necessary  to  get  a  permit  to  go  on  board  the 
ship.  The  crowds  of  people  in  New  York,  who 
are  always  going  to  and  fro,  are  so  great,  and 
the  interest  felt  in  these  great  steamships  is  so 
strong,  that  if  every  body  were  allowed  free  ac- 
cess and  egress  to  them,  the  decks  and  cabins  of 
the  vessels  would  be  always  in  confusion.  So 
they  build  a  barricade  across  the  great  pier  at 
which  the  ships  lie,  with  ponderous  gates,  one 
large  one  for  carts  and  carriages,  and  another 
smaller  one  for  people  on  foot,  opening  through 
it,  and  no  one  is  admitted  without  a  ticket.  Mr. 
George  went  to  the  office  in  "Wall  Street  and 
procured  such  a  ticket,  which  one  of  the  clerks 
in  attendance  there  gave  him,  on  his  saying  that 
he  wished  to  go  on  board  to  select  a  state  room 
for  some  passengers. 

Provided  with  this  ticket,  Mr.  George  took  an 
omnibus  at  "Wall  Street  and  rode  up  to  Canal 
Street.  At  Canal  Street  he  took  another  omni- 
bus, which  carried  him  nearly  to  the  East  River. 
There  he  left  the  omnibus,  and  proceeded  the 
rest  of  the  way  on  foot.  The  crowd  of  people 
on  the  sidewalks  going  and  coming,  and  of  carts, 
drays,  wagons,  and  coaches  in  the  street,  was 
•mrnense.  There  was  one  crossing  where,  for 
some  time,  Mr.  George  could  not  get  over,  so 


Taking  Passage.  23 

Incidents  at  the  crossing.  The  beggar  boy  and  his  top. 

innumerable  and  closely  wedged  together  were 
the  vehicles  of  all  descriptions  that  occupied  the 
way.  There  were  many  people  that  were  stopped 
with  him  on  the  sidewalk.  Among  them  was  a 
servant  girl,  with  a  little  boy  under  her  charge, 
whom  she  was  leading  by  the  hand.  The  girl 
looked  very  anxious,  not  knowing  how  to  get 
across  the  street. 

"  Let  me  carry  the  child  across  for  you,"  said 
Mr.  George. 

So  saying  he  took  the  child  up  gently,  but 
quickty,  in  his  arms,  and  watching  a  momentary 
opening  in  the  stream  of  carriages,  he  pressed 
through,  the  servant  girl  following  him.  He  set 
the  boy  down  upon  the  sidewalk.  The  girl  said 
that  she  was  very  much  obliged  to  him,  indeed  ; 
and  then  Mr.  George  went  on. 

Just  then  a  small  and  ragged  boy  held  out  his 
hand,  and  with  a  most  woe-begone  expression  of 
countenance  and  a  piteous  tone  of  voice,  begged 
Mr.  George  to  give  him  a  few  pennies,  to  keep 
him  from  starving.  Mr.  George  took  no  notice 
of  him,  but  passed  on.  A  moment  afterward  he 
turned  round  to  look  at  the  boy  again.  He  saw 
him  take  a  top  out  of  his  pocket,  and  go  to  spin- 
ning it  upon  the  sidewalk,  and  then,  suddenly 
seeing  some  other  boys,  the  young  rogue  caught 
up  his  top  and  ran  after  them  with  shouts  of 


24  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  great  gates. 

great  hilarity  and  glee.  He  was  an  impostor 
Mr.  George  knew  this  when  he  refused  to  give 
him  any  money. 


Mr.  George  then  went  on  again.  He  came,  at 
length,  to  the  great  gates  which  led  to  the  pier. 
There  was  a  man  just  within  the  gate,  walking 
to  and  fro,  near  the  door  of  a  sort  of  office,  or 
lodge,  which  he  kept  there.  Mr.  George  at- 
tempted to  open  the  gate. 


Taking  Passage.  25 


Mr.  George  shows  his  ticket.  Going  on  board  the  ship. 

"  Please  show  your  ticket,  sir,"  said  he. 

Mr.  George  took  out  his  ticket  and  gave  it  to 
the  porter,  whereupon  the  porter  opened  the 
gate  and  let  him  in. 

Mr.  George  found  himself  under  an  enormous 
roof,  which  spread  itself  like  a  vast  canopy  over 
his  head,  and  extended  from  side  to  side  across 
the  pier.  Under  this  vast  shed  laborers  were 
wheeling  boxes  and  bales  of  merchandise  to  and 
fro,  while  small  steam  engines  of  curious  forms 
and  incessant  activity  were  at  work  hoisting 
coal  on  board  the  ships  from  lighters  alongside, 
and  in  other  similar  operations.  There  were 
two  monstrous  steamships  lying  at  this  pier,  one 
on  each  side.  Mr.  George  turned  toward  the 
one  on  the  left.  There  was  a  long  flight  of  steps 
leading  up  from  the  pier  to  the  decks  of  this  ship. 
It  was  formed  by  a  staging,  which  extended  from 
the  pier  to  the  bulwarks  of  the  ship,  like  a  stair- 
case, with  a  railing  on  each  side.  Mr.  George 
ascended  these  steps  to  the  bulwarks,  and  thence 
descended  by  a  short  flight  of  steps  to  the  deck 
itself,  and  then  went  along  the  deck  till  he  came 
to  the  door  leading  to  the  cabins. 

He  found  within  quite  a  number  of  cabins, 
arranged  on  different  floors,  like  the  different 
Btories  of  a  house.  These  cabins  were  very  re- 
splendent with  gilding  and  carving,  and  were 


26  ROLLO     ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  state  rooms.  The  office  in  Wall  Street. 

adorned  with  curtains  and  mirrors  on  every  side. 
They  presented  to  Mr.  George,  as  he  walked 
through  them,  a  very  imposing  spectacle.  Along 
the  sides  of  them  were  a  great  many  little  bed 
rooms,  called  state  rooms.  These  state  rooms 
were  all  very  beautifully  finished,  and  were  fur- 
nished with  every  convenience  which  passengers 
could  require.  Mr.  George  selected  two  of  these 
state  rooms.  They  were  two  that  were  adjoin- 
ing to  each  other,  and  they  were  connected  by  a 
door.  There  were  two  beds,  or  rather  bed  places, 
in  each  state  room,  one  above  the  other.  Mr. 
George  chose  the  lower  berth  in  one  state  room 
for  Rollo,  and  the  lower  one  in  the  next  state 
room  for  Jane.  When  he  had  chosen  the  berths 
in  this  manner,  he  wrote  the  name  of  each  of  the 
children  on  a  card,  and  then  pinned  the  cards 
up  upon  the  curtains  of  the  respective  berths. 

"  There !  "  said  he.  "  That  is  all  right.  Now 
perhaps  some  lady  will  take  the  other  berth  in 
Jane's  room,  and  some  gentleman  that  in  Rollo's. 
Then  they  will  both  have  company  in  their  rooms 
Otherwise  I  must  find  somebody  to  take  care  of 
them  both." 

Mr.  George  then  left  the  ship  and  went  back 
to  the  office  in  Wall  Street,  to  engage  the  berths 
and  pay  the  passage  money.  The  office  was  spa- 
cious and  handsomely  furnished,  and  there  were 


Taking  Passage.  27 

Mr.  George  secures  the  berths. 

several  clerks  in  it  writing  at  desks.  There 
were  two  rooms,  and  in  the  back  room  was  a 
table,  with  large  plans  of  the  ship  upon  it,  on 
which  all  the  cabins  and  state  rooms  of  the  sev- 
eral decks  were  represented  in  their  proper  posi- 
tions. The  names  of  the  various  passengers  that 
had  engaged  passage  in  the  ship  were  written  in 
the  several  state  rooms  which  they  had  ciiosen. 
The  clerk  wrote  the  names,  Master  Holiday  and 
Miss  Holiday,  in  the  state  rooms  which  Mr.  George 
pointed  out  to  him,  and,  when  he  had  done  so, 
Mr.  George  looked  over  all  the  other  names  that 
had  been  written  in  before,  to  see  if  there  were 
any  persons  whom  he  knew  among  them.  To 
his  great  gratification  he  found  that  there  were 
several  such. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  as  he  rose  up  from  the  exam- 
ination of  the  plan,  "  there  are  several  gentlemen 
there  who  will  be  very  ready,  under  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  to  do  Mr.  Holiday  the  favor 
of  looking  after  his  children  during  the  voyage." 

Being  thus,  in  a  measure,  relieved  of  all  solici- 
tude, Mr.  George  walked  about  the  room  a  few 
minutes,  examinitg  the  pictures  of  the  several 
Bteamers  c  f  the  line  which  were  hanging  on  the 
walls,  and  then  went  away. 


28  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


Mr.  George's  plan  in  respect  to  the  children. 


Chapter   II. 
The    Embarkation. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  sailing  of  the  steamer 
was  on  Tuesday  morning  ;  and  Mr.  George,  in 
order  to  have  time  to  communicate  with  some  of 
the  gentlemen  to  whose  care  he  intended  to  in- 
trust the  two  children,  planned  his  journey  to 
New  York  so  as  to  arrive  there  in  good  season 
on  Monday.  He  supposed  that  he  should  be 
able,  without  any  difficulty,  to  find  one  or  the 
other  of  them  in  the  afternoon  or  evening  of 
that  day. 

"And  if  worst  comes  to  the  worst/'  added 
he  to  himself,  in  his  reflections  on  the  subject, 
"  I  can  certainly  find  them  at  the  ship,  by  going 
on  board  an  hour  or  two  before  she  sails,  and 
watching  the  plank  as  the  passengers  come  up 
from  the  pier." 

Worst  did  come  to  the  worst,  it  seems ;  for 
when  Mr.  George  came  home  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  on  Monday,  and  Rollo  came  up  to 
aim  very  eagerly  in  the  parlor  of  the  boarding 


The  Embarkation.  29 

Jane  and  Lottie  on  the  stairs. 

house,  to  ask  him  whom  he  had  found  to  take 
charge  of  them,  he  was  forced  to  confess  that  he 
had  not  found  any  one. 

"  I  am  glad  of  it !  "  exclaimed  Rollo,  joyfully. 
''I  am  glad  of  it !  I  like  it  a  great  deal  better 
to  take  care  of  ourselves." 

He  then  began  dancing  about  the  room,  and 
finally  ran  off  in  great  glee,  to  inform  Jane  of 
the  prospect  before  them.  Rollo  was  very  ambi- 
tious of  being  considered  a  man. 

He  found  Jane  sitting  on  the  stairs  with  an- 
other child  of  her  own  age,  that  she  had  become 
acquainted  with  at  the  boarding  house  ;  for  it 
was  at  a  boarding  house,  and  not  at  a  hotel,  that 
Mr.  George  had  taken  lodgings  for  his  party. 
This  child's  name  was  Lottie  ;  that  is,  she  was 
commonly  called  Lottie,  though  her  real  name 
was  Charlotte.  She  was  a  beautiful  child,  with 
beaming  black  eyes,  a  radiant  face,  and  dark 
glossy  curls  of  hair  hanging  down  upon  her  neck. 
Jane  and  Lottie  were  playing  together  in  a  sort 
of  recess  at  a  landing  of  the  stairs,  where  there 
was  a  sofa  and  a  window.  They  had  tiger  and 
the  cage  with  them.  The  door  was  open  and 
tiger  was  playing  about  the  cage,  going  in  and 
out  at  her  pleasure. 

"  Jane,"  said  Rollo,  "  uncle  George  cannot  find 
any  body  to  take  care  of  you,  and  so  I  am  going 
to  take  care  of  you." 


30  Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

Conversation  about  sea  voyaaes.  Lottie's  uncle. 

Jane  did  not  answer. 

"Are  you  going  to  England?"  asked  Lottie. 

"Yes,"  replied  Jane,  mournfully;  "and  there 
is  nobody  to  go  with  us,  to  take  care  of  us." 

"  I  went  to  England  once,"  said  Lottie. 

"  Did  you  ?  "  asked  Jane  ;  "  and  did  you  go 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lottie. 

"  Of  course  she  did,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  there  is  no 
other  way." 

"  And  how  did  you  get  along  ?  "  said  Jane. 

"  0,  very  well,"  said  Lottie  ;  "  we  had  a  very 
good  time  playing  about  the  decks  and  cabins. " 

Jane  felt  somewhat  reassured  by  these  decla- 
rations of  Lottie,  and  she  even  began  to  think 
that  if  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  in  crossing 
the  Atlantic  but  to  play  about  the  decks  and 
cabins  all  the  way,  there  was  a  possibility  that 
Rollo  might  be  able  to  take  care  of  her. 

"  My  uncle  is  going  on  a  voyage,  too,  to-mor- 
row," added  Lottie. 

"  What  uncle  ?  "  asked  Jane. 

"My  uncle  Thomas,"  said  Lottie.  "He  lives 
in  this  house.  He  is  packing  up  his  trunk  now. 
He  is  going  to  Charleston.  I  wish  I  were  goirg 
with  him." 

"  Do  you  like  to  go  to  sea  ?  "  asked  Jane. 

"Yes,"  said  Lottie,  "pretty  well.     I  like  to 


The  Embarkation  31 

Rolio's  manly  feelings.  Curious  case. 

see  the  sailors  climb  up  the  masts  and  rigging ; 
and  I  like  the  cabins,  because  there  are  so  many 
sofas  in  them,  and  so  many  places  to  hide." 
.  Little  Jane  felt  much  less  uneasiness  at  the 
idea  of  going  to  sea  after  hearing  Lottie  give 
such  favorable  accounts  of  her  own  experience. 
Still  she  was  not  entirely  satisfied.  As  for  Hollo, 
his  eagerness  to  go  independent  of  all  super- 
vision did  not  arise  wholly  from  vanity  and  pre- 
sumption. He  was  now  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
that  is  an  age  which  fairly  qualifies  a  boy  to  bear 
some  considerable  burdens  of  responsibility  and 
duty.  At  any  rate,  it  is  an  age  at  which  it 
ought  to  be  expected  that  the  powers  and  char- 
acteristics of  manhood  should,  at  least,  begin  to 
be  developed.  It  is  right,  therefore,  that  a  boy 
at  that  age  should  begin  to  feel  something  like  a 
man,  and  to  desire  that  opportunities  should 
arise  for  exercising  the  powers  which  he  finds 
thus  developing  themselves  and  growing  strong- 
er every  day  within  him. 

The  fact  that  Lottie's  uncle  Thomas  was  going 
to  embark  for  Charleston  on  the  same  day  that 
had  been  fixed  for  Rolio's  embarkation  for  Eu- 
rope might  seem  at  first  view  a  very  unimportant 
circumstance.  It  happened,  however,  that  it  led, 
in  fact,  to  very  serious  consequences.  The  case 
was  this.    It  is  necess?  ry,  however,  first  to  ex 


32  BOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

System  of  transportation  in  cities.  Expresses. 

plain,  for  the  benefit  of  those  readers  of  this 
book  who  may  never  have  had  opportunities  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  usages  of  great 
cities,  that  there  are  two  separate  systems  in  use 
in  such  cities  for  the  transportation  respectively 
of  baggage,  and  of  persons,  from  place  to  place. 
For  baggage  and  parcels,  there  are  what  are 
called  expresses.  The  owners  of  these  expresses 
have  offices  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  where 
books  are  kept,  in  which  a  person  may  go  and 
have  an  entry  made  of  any  trunk,  or  bag,  or 
other  package  which  he  may  wish  to  have 
conveyed  to  any  place.  He  enters  in  the  book 
what  the  parcel  is,  where  it  is,  and  where  he 
wishes  to  have  it  taken.  The  express  man  then, 
who  has  a  great  number  of  wagons  employed  for 
this  purpose,  sends  for  the  parcel  by  the  first 
wagon  that  comes  in. 

For  persons  who  wish  to  be  conveyed  from 
place  to  place,  there  are  carriages  all  the  time 
standing  at  certain  points  by  the  sides  of  the 
streets,  ready  for  any  one  who  calls  them,  and 
there  are  also  stables  where  carriages  are  always 
in  readiness.  Now,  it  so  happened  that  Lottie's 
uncle  Thomas  had  concluded  to  have  his  trunk 
taken  down  to  the  Charleston  ship  by  the  ex- 
press, intending  to  walk  to  the  pier  himself  from 
his  office,  which  was  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city 


The  Embarkation.  33 

Entries  made  at  the  express  office  and  at  the  stable. 

not  far  from  the  pier  where  his  ship  was  lying. 
So  he  went  to  an  express  office,  and  there,  at  his 
dictation,  the  clerk  made  the  following  entry  in 
his  book :  — 

Trunk  at  780  Broadway,  to  steamer  Carolina, 
Pier  No.  4  North  River.  To-morrow,  at  half 
past  nine  o'clock. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  George,  as  he  required 
a  carriage  to  take  the. children  down,  did  not  go 
to  the  express  office  at  all.  He  intended  to  take 
their  trunk  on  the  carriage.  So  he  went  to  the 
stable,  and  there,  at  his  dictation,  the  clerk  made 
on  the  book  there  the  following  entry  :  — 

Carriage  at  780  Broadway.  Tomorrow,  at 
half  past  nine  o'clock. 

In  accordance  with  this  arrangement,  there- 
fore, a  little  after  nine  o'clock  both  the  trunks 
were  got  ready  at  the  boarding  house,  each  in  its 
own  room.  The  chambermaid  in  Hollo's  room, 
when  she  saw  that  the  trunk  was  ready,  offered 
to  carry  it  down,  which,  as  she  was  a  good  strong 
Irish  girl,  she  could  very  easily  do.  She  ac- 
cordingly took  it  up  in  her  arms  and  carried  it 
down  stairs  to  the  front  entry,  and  put  it  down 
c 


34  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hollo's  trunk  carried  the  wrong  way. 

near  the  door.  One  of  the  waiters  of  the  house 
was  standing  by  when  she  did  this. 

"  What  is  that,  Mary  ?  "  said  he. 

"  It  is  a  trunk  to  go  to  the  steamer,"  said 
Mary.  "There  is  a  man  coming  for  it  pretty 
soon." 

She  meant,  of  course,  that  it  was  to  go  to  the 
Liverpool  steamer,  and  the  man  who  was  to  come 
for  it  was  the  driver  of  the  carriage  that  Mr. 
George  had  engaged.  She  knew  nothing  about 
any  other  trunk,  as  the  room  which  Lottie's  un- 
cle occupied  was  attended  by  another  chamber- 
maid. 

Mary,  having  deposited  the  trunk  in  its  place, 
returned  up  stairs,  to  assist  in  getting  Rollo  and 
Jane  ready.  A  moment  afterward  the  express 
man,  whom  Lottie's  uncle  had  sent  for  his  trunk, 
rang  the  door  bell.  The  waiter  opened  the 
door. 

"  I  came  for  a  trunk,"  said  the  man,  "  to  take 
to  the  steamer." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  waiter.  "  Here  it  is,  all  ready. 
They  have  just  brought  it  down." 

So  the  express  man  took  up  the  trunk,  and, 
carrying  it  out,  put  it  on  his  wagon  ;  then,  mount- 
ing on  his  seat,  he  drove  away. 

Five  minutes  afterward,  the  carriage  which 
Mr.  George  had  engaged  arrived  at  the  door. 


The  Embarkation.  35 

Steamer  Pacific,  foot  of  Canal  Street. 

Mr.  George  and  the  children  came  down  the 
stairs.  Mr.  George,  as  soon  as  he  reached  the 
lower  hall,  inquired,  — 

"  Where  is  the  trunk  ?  " 

"  The  man  has  taken  it,  sir,"  said  he. 

"  Ah,  he  has,  has  he  ?     That  is  all  right." 

So  Mr.  George  and  the  children  got  into  the 
carriage,  the  driver  holding  the  door  open  for 
them  as  they  did  so.  As  the  driver  was  about 
to  shut  the  door,  Mr.  George  said,  — 

"  Steamer  Pacific,  foot  of  Canal  Street." 

The  driver,  taking  this  for  his  direction,  mount- 
ed his  box,  and  drove  rapidly  away. 

"When  the  party  arrived  at  the  gates  which  led 
to  the  pier,  they  found  a  great  concourse  of  peo- 
ple and  a  throng  of  carts  and  carriages  blocking 
up  the  way.  The  great  gate  was  open,  and  a 
stream  of  carriages  containing  passengers,  and 
of  carts  and  express  wagons  conveying  baggage, 
was  pouring  in.  Mr.  George's  carriage  was  ad- 
mitted, at  length,  in  its  turn,  and  drove  on  until 
it  came  opposite  the  long  stairway  which  led  on 
board  the  ship.  Here  it  stopped,  and  Mr.  George 
and  the  children  got  out. 

"  Where  is  the  trunk  ?  "  said  Mr.  George,  look- 
ing before  and  behind  the  carriage.  "  Why, 
where  is  the  trunk  ?  You  have  lost  the  trunk 
off  of  the  carriage,  driver,  in  coming  down." 


36  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC 

The  loss  of  the  trunk  is  discovered. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  the  driver  ;  "  there  was  no 
trunk." 

"  There  certainly  was,"  said  Mr.  George  ;  "  and 
they  told  rne  that  you  had  put  it  on." 

"  No,  sir,"  said  the  driver.  "  This  is  the  first 
time  I  have  heard  any  thing  about  any  trunk." 

Mr.  George  was  now  quite  seriously  alarmed. 
He  looked  about  this  way  and  that,  and  did  not 
seem  to  know  what  to  do.  In  the  mean  time 
the  line  of  carriages  from  behind  pressed  on, 
and  the  drivers  of  them  began  to  call  out  to 
clear  the  way.  Mr.  George  found  himself  com- 
pelled to  decide  upon  something  very  promptly. 

"  Drive  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  pier,"  said 
he,  "  and  wait  there  till  I  come." 

Then,  taking  the  two  children  by  the  hand, 
he  began  to  lead  them  up  the  long  plank  by 
which  the  people  were  going  on  board. 

Mr.  George  said  nothing,  but  continued  to 
lead  the  children  along,  the  throng  before  and 
behind  them  being  so  dense  that  they  could  not 
see  at  all  where  they  were  going.  When  they 
reached  the  top  of  the  stairway,  they  descended 
by  a  few  steps,  and  so  came  on  board.  The 
children  then  found  themselves  moving  along 
what  seemed  a  narrow  passage  way,  amid  crowds 
of  people,  until  at  length  they  came  to  a  short 
and  steep  flight  of  steps,  which  led  up  to  what 


The  Embarkation.  37 

Be  always  calm  and  composed  in  sudden  emergencies. 

seemed  to  Jane  a  sort  of  a  roof.  The  balustrade, 
or  what  served  as  balustrade  for  these  steps,  was 
made  of  rope,  and  painted  green.  By  help  of 
this  rope,  and  by  some  lifting  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
George,  Rollo  and  Jane  succeeded  in  getting  up, 
and,  at  length,  found  themselves  in  a  place  where 
they  could  see. 

They  were  on  what  was  called  the  promenade 
deck.  There  were  masts,  and  a  great  smoke- 
pipe,  and  a  great  amount  of  ropes  and  rigging 
rising  up  above  them,  and  there  were  many  other 
curious  objects  around.  The  children  had,  how- 
ever, no  time  to  attend  to  these  things,  for  Mr. 
George  led  them  rapidly  along  to  that  part  of 
the  promenade  deck  which  was  opposite  to  the 
long  plank,  where  the  people  were  coming  up 
from  the  pier.  Mr.  George  left  the  children 
here  for  a  minute  or  two,  while  he  went  and 
brought  two  camp  stools  for  them  to  sit  upon. 
He  placed  these  stools  near  the  edge  of  the  deck. 
There  was  a  railing  to  keep  them  from  fall- 
ing off. 

"  There,  children,"  said  he.  "  Now  you  can 
iit  here  and  see  the  people  come  on  board.  It 
is  a  very  funny  thing  to  see.  I  am  going  after 
the  trunk.  You  must  not  mind  if  I  don't  come 
back  for  a  long  time.  The  ship  will  not  sail  yet 
for  two  hours.     You  must  stay  here,  however, 


B8  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Energetic  measures.  The  children  left  alone. 

all  the  time.  You  must  not  go  away  from  this 
place  on  any  consideration." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  went  away.  A  moment 
afterward  the  children  saw  him  going  down  the 
plank  to  the  pier.  As  soon  as  he  reached  the 
pier  he  forced  his  way  through  the  crowd  to  the 
other  side  of  it,  where  the  carriage  was  stand- 
ing. The  children  watched  him  all  the  time. 
When  he  reached  the  carriage,  they  saw  that  he 
stopped  a  moment  to  say  a  few  words  to  the 
driver,  and  then  hastily  got  into  the  carriage. 
The  driver  shut  the  door,  mounted  upon  the  box, 
and  then  drove  out  through  the  great  gate  and 
disappeared. 

What  Mr.  George  said  to  the  driver  was  this. 

"  Now,  driver,  we  have  got  just  two  hours  to 
find  that  trunk.  I  pay  you  full  fare  for  the  car- 
riage for  the  two  hours  at  any  rate,  and  if  we 
find  the  trunk  and  get  it  on  board  that  ship  be- 
fore she  sails,  I  pay  you  five  dollars  over.  Now 
take  me  up  to  780  Broadway  as  quick  as  you 
can  go." 

When  the  children  found  themselves  thus  left, 
they  could  not  help  feeling  for  a  moment  a  very 
painful  sensation  of  loneliness,  although  they 
were,  in  fact,  surrounded  with  crowds,  and  were 
In  the  midst  of  a  scene  of  the  greatest  excitement. 
&'en  Rollo  found  his  courage  and  resolution 


The  Embaekation.  39 

Jennie  is  \-ery  sad  and  sorrowful.  Rollo. 

ebbing  away.  He  sat  for  a  little  time  without 
speaking,  and  gazed  upon  the  scene  of  commo- 
tion which  he  saw  exhibited  before  him  on  the 
pier  with  a  vague  and  bewildered  feeling  of 
auxiety  and  fear.  Presently  he  turned  to  look 
at  Jennie.  He  saw  that  she  was  trying  to  draw 
her  handkerchief  from  her  pocket,  and  thit  tears 
were  slowly  trickling  down  her  cheek. 

"  Jennie,"  said  he,  "  don't  cry.  Uncle  George 
will  find  the  trunk  pretty  soon,  and  come  back." 

It  might,  perhaps,  be  supposed  that  Rollo 
would  have  been  made  to  feel  more  dispirited 
and  depressed  himself  from  witnessing  Jennie's 
dejection  ;  but  the  effect  was  really  quite  the  con- 
trary of  this.  In  fact,  it  is  found  to  be  univer- 
sally true,  that  nothing  tends  to  nerve  the  heart 
of  man  to  greater  resolution  and  energy  in  en- 
countering and  struggling  against  the  dangers 
and  ills  that  surround  him,  than  to  have  woman 
near  him  and  dependent  upon  him,  and  to  see 
her  looking  up  to  him  for  protection  and  support. 
It  is  true  that  Rollo  was  not  a  man,  nor  was 
Jennie  a  woman.  But  even  in  their  early  years 
the  instincts  and  sympathies,  which  exercise  so 
powerful  a  control  over  the  human  heart  in  later 
periods  of  life,  began  to  develop  themselves  in 
embryo  forms.  So  Rollo  found  all  his  courage 
and  confidence  coming  back  again  when  he  saw 
Jennie  in  tears. 


40  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  endeavors  to  amuse  and  comfort  Jennie. 

Besides,  he  reflected  that  he  had  a  duty  to 
%  perform.  He  perceived  that  the  time  had  now 
come  for  him  to  show  by  his  acts  that  he  was 
really  able  to  do  what  he  had  been  so  eager  to 
undertake.  He  determined,  therefore,  that  in- 
stead of  yielding  to  the  feelings  of  fear  and  de- 
spondency which  his  situation  was  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  inspire,  he  would  nerve  himself  with 
resolution,  and  meet  the  emergencies  of  the  oc- 
ca?ion  like  a  man. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done,  as  he  thought,  was 
to  amuse  Jane,  and  divert  her  attention,  if  possi- 
ble, from  her  fears.  So  he  began  to  talk  to  her 
about  what  was  taking  place  before  them  on 
the  pier. 

"  Here  comes  another  carriage,  Jennie/7  said 
he.  "  Look,  look  !  See  what  a  parcel  of  trunks 
they  have  got  on  behind.  That  passenger  has 
not  lost  his  trunks,  at  any  rate.  See  all  these 
orange  women,  too,  Jennie,  standing  on  the  edge 
of  the  pier.  How  many  oranges  they  have  got. 
Do  you  suppose  they  will  sell  them  all?  0 
Jennie,  Jennie,  look  there  !  See  that  great  pile 
cf  trunks  going  up  into  the  air." 

Jane  looked  in  the  direction  where  Rollo 
pointed,  and  saw  a  large  pile  of  trunks  and 
boxes,  eight  or  ten  in  all,  slowly  rising  into  the 
air,  being  drawn  up  ^y  means  of  a  monstrous 


The  Embaekation.  41 

How  the  baggage  is  got  on  board. 

rope,  which  descended  from  a  system  of  pulleys 
and  machinery  above.  After  attaining  a  consid- 
erable height,  the  whole  mass  slowly  moved  over 
toward  the  ship,  and  after  reaching  the  centre 
of  the  deck  it  began  to  descend  again,  with  a 
great  rattling  of  chains  and  machinery,  until  it 
disappeared  from  view  somewhere  on  board. 

"  That  is  the  way  they  get  the  baggage  on 
board,  Jennie,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  never  should 
have  thought  of  getting  baggage  on  board  in 
that  way  ;  should  you,  Jennie  ?  I  wonder  where 
the  trunks  go  to  when  the  rope  lets  them  down. 
It  is  in  some  great  black  hole,  I  have  no  doubt, 
down  in  the  ship.  The  next  load  of  trunks  that 
comes  I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  and  see." 

"  No,  no!  "  said  Jane,  "you  must  not  go  away. 
Uncle  George  said  that  we  must  not  move  away 
from  here  on  any  account." 

"  So  he  did,"  said  Rollo.    "  Well,  I  won't  go." 

After  a  short  time,  Jennie  became  so  far  ac- 
customed to  her  situation  as  to  feel  in  some 
degree  relieved  of  her  fears.  In  fact,  she  began 
to  find  it  quite  amusing  to  watch  the  various 
phases  which  the  exciting  scene  that  was  passing 
before  her  assumed.  Eollo  endeavored  still 
more  to  encourage  and  cheer  her,  by  frequently 
assuring  her  that  their  uncle  would  soon  come 
ba^k.     He  did  this,  indeed,  from  the  best  of  mo- 


42  E.OLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

4 

The  c  "owd  increases.  An  accident. 

tives ;  but  it  "was  not  wise  or  ev2n  right  to  do  so, 
for  he  could  not  possibly  know  when  his  uncle 
would  come  back,  or  even  whether  he  would 
come  back  at  all. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  crowd  of  carriages  and 
people  coming  and  going  on  the  pier  was  con- 
tinually increasing  as  the  time  for  the  departure 
of  the  ship  drew  nigh.  There  were  more  than 
one  hundred  passengers  to  come  on  board,  and 
almost  every  one  of  these  had  many  friends  to 
come  with  them,  to  bid  them  good  by  ;  so  that 
there  was  a  perpetual  movement  of  carriages 
coming  and  going  upon  the  pier,  and  the  long 
plank  which  led  up  to  the  ship  was  crowded 
with  people  ascending  and  descending  in  con- 
tinuous streams.  The  paddle  wheels  were  all 
the  time  in  motion,  though  the  ship,  being  yet 
fastened  to  the  shore,  could  not  move  away. 
The  wheels,  however,  produced  a  great  commo- 
tion in  the  water,  covering  the  surface  of  it  with 
rushing  foam,  and  at  the  same  timethe  steam 
was  issuing  from  the  escape  pipe  with  a  roaring 
sound,  which  seemed  to  crown  and  cover,  as  it 
were,  without  at  all  subduing  the  general  din. 

Rollo  had  one  very  extraordinary  proof  of  the 
deep  and  overwhelming  character  of  the  excite- 
ment of  this  scene,  in  an  accident  that  occurred 
in  the  midst  of  it,  which,  for  a  moment,  fright- 


The  Embaeration.  43 

K  child  overboard.  The  boat.  The  swimmer. 

uned  him  extremely.  The  pier  where  the  steam 
er  was  lying  was  surrounded  by  other  piers  and 
docks,  all  crowded  with  .boats  and  shipping.  It 
happened  that  not  very  far  from  him  there  lay  a 
small  vessel,  a  sloop,  which  had  come  down  the 
North  River,  and  was  now  moored  at  the  head 
of  the  dock.  There  was  a  family  on  board  this 
sloop,  and  while  Rollo  was  by  chance  looking 
that  way,  he  saw  a  small  child,  perhaps  seven  or 
eight  years  old,  fall  off  from  the  deck  of  the 
sloop  into  the  water.  The  child  did  not  sink, 
being  buoyed  up  by  her  clothes ;  and  as  the  tide 
was  flowing  strong  at  that  time,  an  eddy  of  the 
water  carried  her  slowly  along  away  from  the 
sloop  toward  the  shore.  The  child  screamed 
with  terror,  and  Rollo  could  now  and  then  catch 
the  sound  of  her  voice  above  the  roaring  of  the 
steam.  The  sailors  on  board  the  sloop  ran  to- 
ward the  boat,  and  began  to  let  it  down.  Others 
on  the  shore  got  ready  with  poles  and  boat 
hooks,  and  though  they  were  probably  shouting 
and  calling  aloud  to  one  another,  Rollo  could 
hear  nothing  but  now  and  then  the  scream  of  the 
child.  At  length  a  man  came  running  down  a 
flight  of  stone  steps  which  led  from  the  pier  to 
the  water  in  a  corner  of  the  dock,  throwing  off 
his  coat  and  shoes  as  he  went  down.  He  plunged 
into  the  water,  swam  out  to  the  child,  seized  her 


44 


ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


The  rescue. 


An  exciting  scene. 


by  the  clothes  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other 
swam  back  with  her  toward  the  steps,  and  there 
they  were  both  drawn  out  by  the  bystanderi 
together. 


THE    RESCUE, 


This  scene,  however,  exciting  as  it  would  hare 
been  under  any  other  circumstances,  produced 
very  little  impression  upon  the  great  crowd  that 
was  engaged  about  the  steamer.  A  few  boys 
ran  that  way  to  see  how  the  affair  would  result. 
Some  others,  standing  on  the  decks  of  the  ship 


The  Embarkation,  45 

At  the  last  moment  Mr.  George  appears. 

or  on  the  pier,  turned  and  looked  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  child.  Otherwise  every  thing  went 
on  the  same.  The  carriages  went  and  came,  the 
people  walked  eagerly  about  among  each  other, 
exchanging  farewells.  The  paddle  wheels  con- 
tinued their  motion,  the  steam  pipe  kept  up  its 
deafening  roar,  and  the  piles  of  trunks  continued 
to  rise  into  the  air  and  swing  over  into  the  ship, 
without  any  interruption. 

The  time  passed  rapidly  on,  and  Mr.  George 
did  not  return.  At  length  but  few  new  carriages 
came,  and  the  stream  of  people  on  the  great 
plank  seemed  to  flow  all  one  way,  and  that  was 
from  the  ship  to  the  pier ;  while  the  crowd  upon 
the  pier  had  increased  until  it  had  become  a 
mighty  throng.  At  length  the  officer  in  com- 
mand gave  orders  to  rig  the  tackle  to  the  great 
plank  stair,  with  a  view  to  heaving  it  back  upon 
the  pier.  The  last,  lingering  visitors  to  the  ship, 
who  had  come  to  take  leave  of  their  friends, 
hastily  bade  them  farewell  and  ran  down  the 
plank.  The  ship,  in  fact,  was  just  on  the  point 
of  casting  off  from  the  pier,  when  suddenly  Mr. 
George's  carriage  appeared  at  the  great  gate. 
It  came  in  among  the  crowd  at  a  very  rapid  rate  ; 
but  still  it  was  so  detained  by  the  obstructions 
which  were  in  the  way,  that  before  it  reached  its 
stopping-place  the  plank  had  begun  slowly  to 


46  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

— — . . . , — — — . — — — i 

He  is  too  late.  Rollo  and  Jennie  set  out  alone. 

rise  into  the  air,  and  the  men  on  the  pier  had 
begun  to  throw  off  the  fastenings. 

"  You  are  too  late,  sir,"  said  a  man  to  Mr. 
George.     "  You  cannot  get  on  board." 

"  Put  the  trunk  on  board,"  said  Mr.  Georgo, 
"  That's  all." 

The  man  took  up  the  trunk,  which  was  by  no 
means  heavy,  and  just  succeeded  in  passing  it 
through  into  a  sort  of  porthole,  near  the  engine, 
which  happened  to  be  open.  Mr.  George  then 
looked  up  to-  the  place  where  he  had  left  the 
children,  and  shouted  out  to  them,  — 

"  Good  by,  children  ;  don't  be  afraid.  Your 
father  will  come  to  the  ship  for  you  at  Liver- 
pool. Good  by,  Jennie.  Rollo  will  take  excel- 
lent care  of  you.     Don't  be  afraid." 

By  this  time  the  ship  was  slowly  and  majes- 
tically moving  away  from  the  pier ;  and  thus  it 
happened  that  Rollo  and  Jennie  set  out  on  the 
voyage  to  Europe,  without  having  any  one  to 
take  them  in  charge* 


Departure.  47 


Jennie's  illusion  and  alarm.  Rollo  comforts  her 


Chapter    III. 
Departure. 

The  moving  away  of  the  steamer  from  toe 
pier  had  the  effect  of  producing  a  striking  illu- 
sion in  Jane's  mind. 

"  Why,  Rollo  !  "  she  exclaimed,  looking  up  to 
Rollo,  quite  alarmed.  "  The  pier  is  sailing  away 
from  us,  and  all  the  people  on  it." 

"  0,  no,"  said  Rollo,  "  the  pier  is  not  sailing 
away.     We  are  sailing  away  ourselves." 

Jane  gazed  upon  the  receding  shore  with  a 
look  of  bewildered  astonishment.  Then  she  add- 
ed in  a  very  sorrowful  and  desponding  tone, — 

"  0  Rollo  !  you  told  me  that  uncle  George 
would  certainly  come  back  ;  and  now  he  is  not 
coming  back  at  all." 

"  Well,  I  really  thought  he  would  come  back," 
said  Rollo.  "  But  never  mind,  Jennie,  we  shall 
get  along  very  well.  We  shall  not  have  to  get 
out  of  this  ship  at  all  till  we  get  to  Liverpool  ; 
and  we  shall  find  father  at  Liverpool.  He  will 
come  on  board  for  us  at  Liverpool,  I  am  sure. 


48  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

A  new  scene.  The  three  farewells. 

before  we  land  ;  and  mother,  too,  I  dare  say. 
Just  think  of  that,  Jennie  !     Just  think  of  that !  " 

This  anticipation  would  doubtless  have  had 
considerable  influence  in  calming  Jennie's  mind, 
if  she  had  had  any  opportunity  to  dwell  upon  it ; 
but  her  thoughts  were  immediately  diverted  to 
the  spectacle  which  was  exhibiting  itself  on  the 
pier.  The  great  throng  of  people  which  had 
assembled  there  seemed  to  be  pressing  on  toward 
the  end  of  the  pier,  accompanying  the  ship,  as  it 
were,  in  its  motion,  as  it  glided  smoothly  away. 
As  they  thus  crowded  forward,  all  those  who  had 
opportunity  to  do  so  climbed  up  upon  boxes  and 
bales  of  merchandise,  or  on  heaps  of  wood  or 
coal,  or  on  posts  or  beams  of  wood,  wherever 
they  could  find  any  position  which  would  raise 
them  above  the  general  level  of  the  crowd. 
This  scene,  of  course,  strongly  attracted  the  at- 
tention both  of  Rollo  and  of  Jane. 

And  here  it  must  be  remarked,  that  there  are 
three  distinct  scenes  of  bidding  farewell-  that  an 
Atlantic  steamer  passes  through  in  putting  to 
sea.  In  the  first  place,  the  individual  voyagers 
take  leave  of  their  several  friends,  by  words  of 
good  by  and  other  personal  greetings,  on  the 
decks  and  in  the  cabins  of  the  ship,  before  she 
leaves  the  pier.  Then,  secondly,  the  company 
of  passengers,  as  a  whole,  give  a  good  by  to  the 


Departure.  49 


The  pier  passes  out  of  the  children's  sight. 


whole  company  of  visitors,  who  have  come  to 
see  the  ship  sail,  and  who  remain  standing  on 
the  pier  as  the  vessel  goes  away.  This  second 
good  by  cannot  be  given  by  words,  for  the  dis- 
tance is  too  great  to  allow  of  words  being  used. 
So  they  give  it  by  huzzas,  and  by  the  waving  of 
hats  and  handkerchiefs. 

This  second  farewell  was  now  about  to  be 
given.  The  gentlemen  on  the  pier  took  off  their 
hats,  and,  waving  them  in  the  air,  shouted  hurrah 
in  concert,  three  times,  with  great  energy.  The 
company  of  passengers  on  board  the  ship  then 
responded,  by  shouting  and  waving  their  hats  in 
return.  The  ladies,  both  on  the  pier  and  in  the 
ship,  performed  their  part  in  this  ceremony  by 
waving  their  handkerchiefs  and  clapping  their 
hands.  By  this  time  the  steamer,  which  had 
been  rapidly  increasing  the  speed  of  its  motion 
all  the  while,  was  now  getting  quite  out  into  the 
stream,  and  was  turning  rapidly  down  the  river. 
This  change  in  the  direction  in  which  the  steam- 
er was  going  carried  the  pier  and  all  the  people 
that  were  upon  it  entirely  out  of  the  children's 
view  and  they  saw  themselves  gliding  rapidly 
along  the  shore  of  the  river,  which  was  formed 
of  a  long  line  of  piers,  with  forests  of  masts  sur- 
mounting them,  and  long  ranges  of  stores  and 
warehouses  beyond.     Nearer  to  the  steamer,  on 

D 


50  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  salute.  The  steamer  an  animal. 

the  water' of  the  river,  and  on  either  hand,  were 
to  be  seen  sloops,  ships,  ferry  boats,  scows,  and 
every  other  species  of  water  craft,  gliding  to  and 
fro  in  all  directions.  While  gazing  with  great 
interest  on  this  scene,  as  the  steamer  moved 
along,  Jane  was  suddenly  startled  and  terrified 
at  the  sound  of  a  heavy  gun,  which  seemed  to  be 
fired  close  to  her  ear.  It  was  soon  evident  that 
the  gun  had  been  fired  from  on  board  the  steam- 
er, for  a  great  puff  of  smoke  rose  up  into  the  air 
from  the  bows  of  the  vessel,  and  slowly  floated 
away.  Immediately  afterward  another  gun  was 
fired,  louder  than  the  first. 

I  have  said  that  there  were  three  farewells. 
The  first  is  that  of  the  individual  passengers  to 
their  individual  friends.  The  second  is  that  of 
the  whole  company  of  passengers  to  the  compa- 
ny of  spectators  on  the  pier.  The  third  is  the 
ship's  farewell  to  the  city.  Of  course,  for  a  ship 
to  speak  to  a  city,  a  very  loud  voice  is  required. 
So  they  provide  her  with  a  gun.  In  fact,  a  great 
steamer  proceeding  to  sea  may  be  considered  as, 
in  some  respects,  like  a  mighty  animal.  The  en- 
gine is  its  heart ;  the  paddle  wheels  are  its  limbs  ; 
the  guns  are  its  voice  ;  the  captain  is  its  head  ; 
and,  finally,  there  is  a  man  always  stationed  on 
the  lookout  in  the  extreme  forward  part  of  the 
ship,  who  serves  the  monster  for  eyes. 


Departure.  51 

The  Pacific  bids  licr  sister  steamer  good  by. 

Jane  was  quite  terrified  at  the  sound  of  the 
guns. 

"  0  Hollo  !  "  exclaimed  she,  "  I  wish  they 
would  not  fire  any  more  of  those  dreadful  guns." 

"  I  don't  think  they  will  fire  any  more,"  said 
Rollo.  "  In  fact,  I  am  sure  they  will  not,  for 
they  have  fired  two  now,  and  they  never  fire 
more  than  two." 

Rollo  was  mistaken  in  this  calculation,  though 
he  was  right  in  the  general  principle  that  the 
number  of  guns  usually  discharged  by  a  steamer 
going  to  sea,  as  its  parting  salute,  is  two.  In 
this  case,  however,  the  steamer,  in  passing  on 
down  the  river,  came  opposite  to  a  place  in  Jer- 
sey City,  where  a  steamer  of  another  line  was 
lying  moored  to  her  pier,  waiting  for  her  own 
sailing  day.  Now,  as  the  Pacific  passed  by  this 
other  steamer,  the  men  on  board  of  the  latter, 
having  previously  made  every  thing  ready  for 
the  ceremony,  fired  two  guns  as  a  salute  to  her, 
by  way  of  bidding  her  farewell  and  wishing  her 
a  good  voyage.  Of  course,  it  was  proper  to  re- 
spond to  the  compliment,  and  this  called  for  two 
guns  more.  This  made,  in  fact,  a  fourth  farewell, 
which  having  been  spoken,  the  firing  was  over. 
The  Pacific,  having  thus  taken  leave  of  the  city, 
and  also  of  her  sister  steamer  on  the  Jersey 
Bhore,  had  now  nothing  to  do  but  to  proceed 


52  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

New  York  Harbor.  The  settees. 

as  fast  as  possible  down  the  harbor  and  out  to 
sea. 

The  scenes  which  are  presented  to  view  on 
every  hand  in  passing  down  New  York  Harbor 
and  Bay  are  very  magnificent  and  imposing. 
Ships,  steamers,  long  ferry  boats,  tugs,  sloops, 
sail  boats,  and  every  other  species  of  water  craft, 
from  the  little  skiff  that  bobs  up  and  down 
over  the  waves  made  by  the  steamboat  swell  to 
the  man-of-war  riding  proudly  at  anchor  in  the 
stream,  are  seen  on  every  hand.  The  shores,  too, 
present  enchanting  pictures  of  rich  and  roman- 
tic beauty.  There  are  villas  and  cottages,  and 
smooth  grassy  lawns,  and  vast  fortifications,  and 
observatories,  and  lighthouses,  and  buoys,  and  a 
great  many  other  objects,  which  strongly  attract 
the  attention  and  excite  the  curiosity  of  the 
voyager,  especially  if  he  has  been  previously  ac- 
customed only  to  travelling  on  land. 

While  the  children  were  looking  at  these 
scenes  with  wonder  and  admiration,  as-  the  ship 
passed  down  the  harbor,  a  young-looking  man, 
who  appeared  to  belong  to  the  ship,  came  to 
them  and  told  them  that,  if  they  wished  to  re- 
main on  deck,  they  had  better  go  and  sit  upon 
the  settees.  So  saying,  he  pointed  to  several 
large  and  heavy-looking  settees,  which  were 
placed  near  the  middle  of  the  deck,  around  what 


Departure.  53 


Tiger.  Uncle  George's  rules. 

seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  skylight.  These  settees 
were  all  firmly  secured  to  their  places  with  strong 
cords,  by  means  of  which  they  were  tied  by  the 
legs  to  some  of  the  fixtures  of  the  skylights. 
In  obedience  to  this  suggestion,  the  children  went 
and  took  their  places  upon  a  settee.  Jane  car- 
ried the  cage,  containing  Tiger,  which  she  had 
kept  carefully  with  her  thus  far,  and  put  it  down 
upon  the  settee  b}r  her  side.  The  man  who  had 
directed  the  children  to  this  place,  and  who  was 
a  sort  of  mate,  as  they  call  such  officers  at  sea, 
looked  at  the  kitten  with  an  expression  of  con- 
tempt upon  his  countenance,  but  said  nothing. 
He  took  the  camp  stools  which  the  children  had 
left,  and  carried  them  away. 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  what  we  are  to  do 
next,"  said  Jane,  mournfully,  after  sitting  for  a 
moment  in  silence. 

"  Nor  I,"  rejoined  Rollo,  "  and  so  I  am  going 
to  follow  uncle  George's  rules." 

Mr.  George  had  given  Rollo  this  rule,  as  a 
sort  of  universal  direction  for  young  persons 
when  travelling  alone  :  — 

1.  Do  as  you  see  other  people  do. 

2.  When  you  cannot  find  out  in  this  or  in  any 
other  way  what  to  do,  do  nothing. 

In  accordance  with  this  advice,  Rollo  conclud- 
ed to  sit  still  upon  the  settee,  where  the  ship'a 


54 


ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


Kollo  watches  the  pilot  on  the  paddle  box. 


officer  had  placed  him,  and  do  nothing.  In  the 
mean  time,  however,  he  amused  himself  in  match- 
ing the  ships  and  steamers  which  he  saw  sailing 
to  and  fro  about  the  harbor,  and  in  pointing  out 
to  Jane  all  the  remarkable  objects  which  he  ob- 
served from  time  to  time  along  the  shores. 

Among  other  things  which  attracted  his  atten 
tion,  he  noticed  and  watched  the  movements  of 
a  man  who  stood  upon  the  top  of  one  of  the 
paddle  boxes  on  the  side  of  the  ship,  where  he 


THE  PILOT   ON   THE  PADDLE  BOX. 


Departure.  55 


Steady. 


walked  to  and  fro  very  busily,  holding  a  speak 
ing  trumpet  all  the  time  in  his  hand.  Every 
now  and  then  he  would  call  out,  in  a  loud  voice, 
a  certain  word.  Sometimes  it  was  port,  some- 
times it  was  starboard,  and  sometimes  it  was 
steady.  Rollo  observed  that  it  was  always  one 
or  the  other  of  those  three  words.  And  what 
was  still  more  curious,  Rollo  observed  that,  when- 
ever the  man  on  the  paddle  box  called  out  the 
word,  the  officer  on  the  deck,  who  kept  walking 
about  there  all  the  time  to  and  fro,  would  imme- 
diately repeat  it  after  him,  in  a  loud  but  in  a 
somewhat  singular  tone.  While  he  was  won- 
dering what  this  could  mean,  a  gentleman,  who 
seemed  to  be  one  of  the  passengers,  came  and 
sat  down  on  the  settee  close  by  his  side.  Rollo 
had  a  great  mind  to  ask  him  who  the  man  on 
the  paddle  box  was. 

"  Well,  my  boy,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  you 
are  rather  young  to  go  to  sea.  How  do  you 
like  it  ?  " 

"  Pretty  well,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  We  are  going  out  in  fine  style,"  said  the 
gentleman.  "  We  shall  soon  be  done  with  the 
pilot." 

"  The  pilot  ?  "  said  Rollo,  inquiringly. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  gentleman.  "  There  he  is,  on 
the  paddle  box." 


56  ROLLO     ON    THE     ATLANTIC. 

The  pilot.  His  words  of  command.  Port. 

"  Is  that  the  pilot  ?  "  asked  Rollo.  "  I  thought 
the  pilot  was  the  man  who  steered." 

"  No,"  replied  the  gentleman,  "  he  is  the  man 
who  gives  directions  how  to  steer.  He  does  not 
steer  himself.  The  man  who  steers  is  called  the 
helmsman.     There  he  is." 

So  saying,  the  gentleman  pointed  toward  the 
stern  of  the  ship  where  there  was  a  sort  of  plat- 
form raised  a  little  above  the  deck,  with  a  row 
of  panes  of  glass,  like  a  long  narrow  window, 
in  front  of  it.  Through  this  window  Rollo 
could  see  the  head  of  a  man.  The  man  was 
standing  in  a  recess  which  contained  the  wheel 
by  means  of  which  the  ship  was  steered. 

"  The  pilot  keeps  a  lookout  on  the  paddle 
box,"  continued  the  gentleman,  "  watching  the 
changes  in  the  channel,  and  also  the  movements 
of  the  vessels  which  are  coming  and  going. 
When  he  wishes  the  helm  to  be  put  to  the  right, 
he  calls  out  Starboard  !  When  he  wishes  it  to 
be  put  to  the  left,  he  calls  out  Port  /  And  when 
he  wishes  the  ship  to  go  straight  forward  as  she 
is,  he  calls  out  Steady  !  " 

Just  then  the  pilot,  from  his  lofty  lookout  on 
the  paddle  box,  called  out,  "Port  !  " 

The  officer  on  the  deck  repeated  the  command, 
m  order  to  pass  it  along  to  the  helmsman, 
''Port !  " 


Departure.  51 


Rollo  observes  the  effect  of  the  pilot's  orders. 


The  helmsman  then  repeated  it  again,  by  way 
of  making  it  sure  to  the  officer  that  he  had  heard 
it  and  was  obeying  it,  "  Port  !  " 

There  were  two  or  three  dashing-looking 
young  men  walking  together  up  and  down  the 
deck,  and  one  of  them,  on  hearing  these  com- 
mands, called  out,  not  very  loud,  but  still  in  such 
a  manner  as  that  all  around  him  could  hear,  and 
imitating  precisely  the  tones  in  which  the  pilot's 
order  had  been  given,  "  Sherry  !  " 

Whereupon  there  was  a  great  laugh  among  all 
the  passengers  around.  Even  the  stern  and  mo- 
rose-looking countenance  of  the  officer  relaxed 
into  a  momentary  smile. 

"  Now  look  forward  at  the  bows  of  the  ship/7 
said  the  gentleman,  "  and  you  will  see  her  change 
her  course  in  obedience  to  the  command  of  the 
pilot  to  port  the  helm." 

Rollo  did  so,  and  observed  the  effect  with 
great  curiosity  and  pleasure. 

"  I  thought  the  captain  gave  orders  how  to 
steer  the  ship,"  said  Rollo. 

"  He  does,"  said  the  gentleman,  "  after  we  get 
fairly  clear  of  the  land.  It  is  the  captain's  busi- 
ness to  navigate  the  ship  across  the  ocean,  but 
he  has  nothing  to  do  with  directing  her  when 
she  is  going  in  and  out  of  the  harbor."  The 
gentleman  then  went  on  to  explain  that  at  the 


58  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Explanation  of  the  pilot  system.  Pilot  boats. 

entrances  of  all  rivers  and  harbors  there  were 
usually  rocks,  shoals,  sand  bars,  and  other  ob- 
structions, some  of  which  were  continually  shift- 
ing their  position  and  character,  and  making  it 
necessary  that  they  should  be  studied  and  known 
thoroughly  by  some  one  who  is  all  the  time  upon 
the  spot.  The  men  who  do  this  are  called  pilots. 
The  pilots  of  each  port  form  a  company,  and 
have  established  rules  and  regulations  for  gov- 
erning all  their  proceedings.  They  go  out  to 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor  in  small  vessels  called 
pilot  boats,  where  they  wait,  both  in  sunshine 
and  storm,  for  ships  to  come  in.  When  a  ship 
approaches  the  coast  and  sees  one  of  these  pilot 
boats,  it  makes  a  signal  for  a  pilot  to  come  on 
board.  The  pilot  boat  then  sails  toward  the 
ship,  and  when  they  get  near  enough  they  let 
down  a  small  boat,  and  row  one  of  the  pilots  on 
board  the  vessel,  and  he  guides  the  ship  in.  In 
the  same  manner,  in  going  out  of  port,  the  pilot 
guides  the  ship  until  they  get  out  into  deep  wa- 
ter, and  then  a  pilot  boat  comes  up  and  takes 
him  off  the  ship.  The  ship  then  proceeds  to  sea, 
while  the  pilot  boat  continues  to  sail  to  and  fro 
about  the  mouth  of  the  harbor,  till  another  ship 
appears. 

"  And  will  this  pilot  get  into  a  pilot  boat  afld 
go  back  to  New  York  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 


Departure.  59 


Rollo  writes  a  very  brief  letter. 


"  Yes,"  replied  the  gentleman,  "  and  the  pas- 
sengers can  send  letters  back  by  him,  if  they 
wish.     They  often  do." 

"  And  can  I  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  gentleman.  "  Write  your 
letter,  and  I  will  give  it  to  him." 

Rollo  had  a  small  inkstand  in  his  pocket,  and 
also  a  pocket  book  with  note  papers  folded  up 
and  envelopes  in  it.  This  was  an  apparatus  that 
he  always  carried  with  him  when  he  travelled. 
He  took  out  one  of  his  sheets  of  note  paper,  and 
wrote  upon  it  the  following  letter  :  — 

Dear  Uncle  George  : 

This  is  to  inform  you  that  we  have  found  a 
good  seat,  and  are  getting  along  very  well. 
Your  affectionate  nephew, 

R.  Holiday. 

Rollo  made  his  letter  shorter  than  he  other- 
wise would  have  done,  on  account  of  having  been 
informed  by  the  gentleman,  when  he  had  just 
written  the  first  line,  that  the  pilot  boat  was 
coming  in  sight.  So  he  finished  his  writing,  and 
then  folded  his  note  and  put  it  in  its  envelope. 
He  sealed  the  envelope  with  a  wafer,  which  he 
took  out  of  a  compartment  of  his  pocket  book. 
He  then  addressed  it  to  his  uncle  George  in  a 


60  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  pilot  leaves  the  ship.  Eollo's  letter  safe. 

proper  maimer,  and  it  was  all  ready.  The  gen 
tleman  then  took  it  and  carried  it  to  the  pilot, 
who  was  just  then  coming  down  from  the  paddle 
box  and  putting  on  his  coat. 

By  this  time  the  pilot  boat  had  come  pretty 
near  to  the  ship,  and  was  lying  there  upon  the 
water  at  rest,  with  her  sails  flapping  in  the  wind. 
The  engine  of  the  ship  was  stopped.  A  small 
boat  was  then  seen  coming  from  the  pilot  boat 
toward  the  ship.  The  boat  was  tossed  fearfully 
by  the  waves  as  the  oarsmen  rowed  it  along. 
When  it  came  to  the  side  of  the  ship  a  sailor 
threw  a  rope  to  it,  and  it  was  held  fast  by  means 
of  the  rope  until  the  pilot  got  on  board.  The 
rope  was  then  cast  off,  and  the  boat  moved  away. 
The  engine  was  now  put  in  motion  again,  and 
the  great  paddle  wheels  of  the  ship  began  to  re- 
volve as  before.  Rollo  watched  the  little  boat 
as  it  went  bounding  over  the  waves,  afraid  all 
the  time  that  it  would  be  upset,  in  which  case 
his  letter  would  be  lost.  At  length,  4iowever, 
he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  skiff  safely 
reach  the  pilot  boat,  and  all  the  men  climb  up 
safely  on  board. 

"  There  !  "  exclaimed  Rollo,  in  a  tone  of  great 
satisfaction,  "  now  he  will  go  up  to  the  city  safe, 
and  I  am  very  glad  he  has  got  that  letter  for 
uncle  George." 


Departure. 


61 


The  ship  proceeds  to  sea. 


In  the  mean  time  the  captain  mounted  the  pad- 
dle box  where  the  pilot  had  stood,  and,  with  his 
speaking  trumpet  in  his  hand,  began  to  give  the 
necessary  orders  for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  voyage.  The  sails  were  spread,  the  engines 
were  put  into  full  operation,  the  helmsman  was 
directed  what  course  to  steer,  and  the  ship 
pressed  gallantly  forward  out  into  the  open 
sea. 


62  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 


The  passengers  are  going  to  lunch 


Chapter  IV. 
Getting    Settled. 

The  gentleman  who  had  so  kindly  explained 
the  pilot  system  to  Rollo  did  not  return  to  the 
settee  after  having  given  the  pilot  the  letter, 
out  went  away,  and  for  a  few  minutes  Rollo  and 
Jane  were  left  alone.  They  observed,  too,  that 
a  great  many  of  the  passengers  had  disappeared, 
and  now  there  were  very  few  about  the  deck. 
Rollo  wondered  where  they  had  gone.  He  soon 
received  some  light  on  the  subject,  by  overhear- 
ing one  gentleman  say  to  another,  as  they  passed 
the  settee  on  their  promenade,  — 

"  Come,  Charley,  let  us  go  down  and  get  some 
lunch." 

"  They  are  going  to  lunch,"  said  Rollo.  "  We 
will  go  too.     I  am  beginning  to  be  hungry." 

"  So  am  I  hungry,"  said  Jane.  "  I  did  not 
think  of  it  before  ;  but  I  am,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  Tiger  is  hungry  too." 

So  Jane  took  up  her  cage,  and  then  she  and 
Rollo,  walking  along  t  jgether,  followed  the  gen* 


Getting  Settled.  63 

Eollo  and  Jane  follow  them.  Tiger  left. 

tlemen  who  had  said  that  they  were  going  down 
to  lunch.  They  walked  forward  upon  the  prom- 
enade deck  till  they  came  to  the  short  flight  of 
stairs,  with  the  green  rope  balustrade,  which  led 
down  to  the  deck  below.  These  stairs  were  so 
steep  that  the  children  were  obliged  to  proceed 
with  great  caution  in  descending  them,  in  order 
to  get  down  in  safety.  They,  however,  at  length 
succeeded  ;  and  then,  passing  along  where  they 
saw  that  the  gentlemen  went  who  preceded 
them,  they  entered  into  a  long  and  narrow  pas- 
sage way,  with  doors  leading  to  state  rooms  on 
either  hand.  Following  this  passage  way,  they 
came  at  length  to  a  sort  of  entry  or  hall,  which 
was  lighted  by  a  skylight  above.  In  the  middle 
of  this  hall,  and  under  the  skylight,  was  a  pret- 
ty broad  staircase,  leading  down  to  some  lower 
portion  of  the  ship.  As  the  men  whom  they 
were  following  went  down  these  stairs,  the  chil- 
dren went  down  too.  "When  they  got  down,  they 
found  themselves  in  a  perfect  maze  of  cabins, 
state  rooms,  and  passage  ways,  the  openings  into 
which  were  infinitely  multiplied  by  the  large  and 
splendid  mirrors  with  which  the  walls  were 
every  where  adorned. 

"  Put  Tiger  down  there,"  said  Hollo,  pointing 
to  a  place  near  the  end  of  the  sofa,  "  and  we 


64  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  way  to  the  dining  saloon.  The  tables. 

will  bring-  her  something  to  eat  when  we  come 
from  lunch." 

Jane  was  very  anxious  to  take  the  kitten  with 
her  ;  but  she  knew  that,  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  she  was  placed,  it  was  proper  that  she 
should  follow  implicitly  all  of  Rollo's  directions. 
So  she  put  the  cage  down,  and  then  she  and 
Rollo  went  on  together  through  a  door  where 
the  gentlemen  who  had  preceded  them  had  gone. 

They  found  themselves  in  another  long  and 
narrow  passage  way,  which  led  toward  the  for- 
ward part  of  the  ship.  The  passage  way  was  so 
narrow  that  they  could  not  walk  together.  So 
Rollo  went  first,  and  Jane  came  behind.  The 
vessel  was  rocking  gently  from  the  motion  of 
the  waves,  and  Jane  had  to  put  her  hands  out 
once  or  twice,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the 
other  of  the  passage  way,  in  order  to  steady  her- 
self as  she  passed  along.  Presently  they  came 
to  a  place  where  they  had  to  go  up  five  or  six 
steps,  and  then  to  go  immediately  clown  again. 
It  was  the  place  where  the  main  shaft  passed 
out  from  the  engine  to  the  paddle  wheel.  After 
getting  over  this  obstruction,  they  went  on  a 
a  little  farther,  and  then  came  into  a  large  dining 
saloon,  where  several  long  tables  were  spread, 
and  a  great  many  passengers  were  seated,  eating 
their  luncheons. 


Getting  Settled.  65 

i         Rollo  ami  Jane  both  take  soup. 

There  were  a  number  of  waiters  in  different 
parts  of  the  room,  standing  behind  the  guests  at 
the  tables  ;  and  one  of  these  waiters,  as  soon  as 
he  saw  Rollo  and  Jane  come  in,  went  to  them, 
and  said  that  he  would  show  them  where  to  sit. 
So  they  followed  him,  and  he  gave  them  a  good 
seat  at  one  of  the  tables.  As  soon  as  the  chil- 
dren were  seated,  the  waiter  said,  addressing 
Rollo,— 

"  Will  you  have  soup  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"  And  will  the  young  lady  take  soup,  too  ? " 
he  asked  again. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  both  of  us." 

While  the  waiter  was  gone  to  get  the  soup, 
Rollo  and  Jane  had  an  opportunity  of  looking 
around  the  room  and  observing  how  very  differ- 
ent it  was  in  its  fixtures  and  furniture  from  a 
dining  room  on  land.  Instead  of  windows,  there 
were  only  round  holes  in  the  sides  of  the  ship, 
about  a  foot  in  diameter.  For  a  sash,  there 
was  only  one  round  and  exceedingly  thick  and 
strong  pane  of  glass,  set  in  an  iron  frame,  and 
opening  inwards,  on  massive  hinges.  On  the 
eide  of  this  frame,  opposite  the  hinges,  was  a 
strong  clamp  and  screw,  by  means  of  which  the 
frame  could  be  screwed  up  very  tight,  in  order 
to  exclude  the  water  in  case  of  heavy  seas      The 

E 


66  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

_ « 

Arrangements  in  the  dining  ruoro. 

tables  were  fitted  -with  a  ledge  all  around  the  out- 
side, to  keep  the  dishes  from  sliding  off.  Above 
each  table,  and  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  was 
a  long  shelf  of  beautiful  wood,  with  racks  and 
sockets  in  it  of  every  kind,  for  containing  wine- 
glasses, tumblers,  decanters,  and  such  other  things 
as  would  be  wanted  from  time  to  time  npon  the 
table.  Every  one  of  these  glasses  was  in  a  place 
upon  the  shelf  expressly  fitted  to  receive  and 
retain  it ;  so  that  it  might  be  held  securely,  and 
not  allowed  to  fall,  however  great  might  be  the 
motion  of  the  ship. 

There  were  no  chairs  at  the  tables.  The  seats 
consisted  of  handsomely  cushioned  settees,  with 
substantial  backs  to  them.  It  was  upon  one  of 
these  settees,  and  near  the  end  of  it,  that  Eollo 
and  Jane  were  seated. 

When  the  soup  was  brought,  the  children  ate 
it  with  great  satisfaction.  They  found  it  excel- 
lent ;  and,  besides  that,  they  had  excellent  appe- 
tites. After  the  soup,  the  waiter  brought  them 
some  roasted  potatoes  and  butter,  and  also  some 
slices  of  cold  roast  beef.  When  the  roast  beef 
came,  Jane  exclaimed  to  Rollo, — 

"  Ah  !  I  am  very  glad  to  see  that.  It  is  just 
the  thing  for  Tiger." 

Then  she  turned  round  and  said  to  the 
waiter,  — 


Getting  Settled.  6T 

The  kitten.  .  The  waiter's  reasoning  about  her. 

"Can  I  take  a  piece  of  this  meat  to  give  to 
my  kitten  ?  " 

"  Yonr  kitten  ?  "  said  the  waiter.  "  Have  you 
got  a  kitten  on  board  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Jane. 

"  Where  is  she  ?  "  asked  the  waiter. 

"  I  left  her  in  the  cabin,"  said  Jane,  "  by  the 
end  of  a  sofa.     She  is  in  her  cage." 

The  waiter  smiled  to  hear  this  statement. 
Jane  had  been,  in  fact,  a  little  afraid  to  ask  for 
meat  for  her  kitten,  supposing  it  possible  that 
the  waiter  might  think  that  she  ought  not  to 
have  brought  a  kitten  on  board.  But  the  truth 
was,  the  waiter  was  very  glad  to  hear  of  it.  He 
was  glad  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the 
monotony  and  dulness  of  sea  life  are  so  great, 
that  those  who  live  in  ships  are  usually  glad  to 
have  any  thing  occur  that  is  extraordinary  or 
novel.  Then,  besides,  he  knew  that  it  was  cus- 
tomary with  passengers,  when  they  gave  the 
waiters  any  unusual  trouble,  to  compensate  them 
for  it  fully  when  they  reached  the  end  of  the 
voyage ;  and  he  presumed,  therefore,  that  if  lie 
had  a  kitten  to  take  care  of,  as  well  as  the  chil- 
dren themselves,  their  father,  whom  he  had  no 
doubt  was  on  board,  would  remember  it  in  his 
fee.  So,  when  Jane  told  him  where  the  kitten 
was,  he  said  he  would  go  and  bring  her  out  into 


68  ROLLO    OX    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  waiter  gives  Tiger  something  to  eat. 

the  dining  saloon,  and  give  her  some  of  the  meat 
there,  as  soon  as  the  passengers  had  finished  their 
luncheon,  so  that  he  could  be  spared  from  the 
table. 

Accordingly,  when  the  proper  time  arrived, 
the  waiter  went  aft,  to  the  cabin,  and  very  soon 
returned,  bringing  the  cage  with  him. 

He  seemed  quite  pleased  with  his  charge  ;  and 
several  of  the  passengers,  who  met  him  as  they 
were  going  out  of  the  saloon,  stopped  a  moment 
to  see  what  he  had  got  in  the  cage,  and  Jane 
was  much  gratified  at  hearing  one  of  them  say,  — 

"  What  a  pretty  kitten  !  Whose  is  it,  waiter  ? '' 

The  waiter  put  the  cage  down  upon  a  side 
table,  and  then  carried  a  plate  of  meat  to  the 
place,  and  put  i  in  the  cage.  Jane  and  Rollo  went 
to  see.  While  .  ie  kitten  was  eating  her  meat, 
the  waiter  said  tnat  he  would  go  and  get  some 
milk  for  her.  He  accordingly  went  away  again ; 
but  he  soon  returned,  bringing  a  little  milk  with 
him  in  a  saucer.  The  kitten,  having  by  this  time 
finished  eating  her  meat,  set  herself  eagerly  at 
the  work  of  lapping  up  the  milk,  which  she  did 
with  an  air  of  great  satisfaction. 

"  There  ! "  said  the  waiter,  "  bring  her  out 
here  whenever  she  is  hungry,  and  I  will  always 
have  something  for  her.  When  you  come  at 
meal  times,  you  will  see  me  at  the  table.    If  you 


Getting  Settled.  69 

The  two  cabins.  Account  of  the  ladies'  cabin. 

come  at  any  other  time,  and  you  don't  see  me, 
ask  for  Alfred ,     My  name  is  Alfred." 

Jane  and  Rollo  both  said  to  Alfred  that  they 
were  very  much  obliged  to  him,  and  then,  ob- 
serving that  nearly  all  the  passengers  had  left 
the  dining  saloon  and  had  returned  to  the  cabin, 
they  determined  to  go  too.  So  they  went  back 
through  the  same  passage  way  by  which  they 
had  come. 

There  were  two  principal  cabins  in  the  ship.; 
the  ladies'  cabin  and  the  gentlemen's  cabin. 
The  ladies'  cabin  was  nearest  to  the  dining  sa- 
loon, the  gentlemen's  cabin  being  beyond.  A 
number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  turned  into  the 
ladies'  cabin,  and  so  Rollo  and  Jane  followed 
them.  They  found  themselves,  when  they  had 
entered,  in  quite  a  considerable  apartment,  with 
sofas  and  mirrors  all  around  the  sides  of  it,  and 
a  great  deal  of  rich  carving  in  the  panels  and 
ceiling.  Several  splendid  lamps,  too,  were  sus- 
pended in  different  places,  so  hung  that  they 
could  move  freely  in  every  direction,  when  the 
ship  was  rolling  from  side  to  side  in  rough  seas. 
Rollo  and  Jane  took  their  seats  upon  one  of  the 
eofas. 

"  "Well,  Rollo,"  said  Jane,  "  I  don't  know  what 
we  are  going  to  do  next." 

"  Nor  I,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  we  can  sit  here  a 


TO  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  two  girls.  One  is  very  beautiful. 

little  while,  and  perhaps  somebody  will  come  and 
speak  to  us.  It  must  be  right  for  us  to  sit  here, 
for  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  are  sitting  in  this 
cabin." 

Jane  looked  about  the  cabin  on  the  different 
sofas  to  see  if  there  were  any  persons  there  that 
she  had  ever  seen  before.     But  there  were  none. 

Among  the  persons  in  the  cabin,  there  were 
iwo  who  particularly  attracted  Jane's  attention. 
They  were  young  ladies  of,  perhaps,  eighteen  or 
twenty  years  of  age,  but  they  were  remarkably 
different  from  each  other  in  appearance.  One 
was  very  beautiful  indeed.  Her  hair  was  ele- 
gantly arranged  in  curls  upon  her  neck,  and  she 
was  dressed  quite  fashionably.  Her  countenance, 
too,  beamed  with  an  expression  of  animation 
and  happiness. 

The  other  young  lady,  who  sat  upon  the  other 
end  of  the  same  sofa,  was  very  plain  in  her  ap- 
pearance, and  was  plainly  dressed.  Her  counte- 
nance, too,  had  a  sober  and  thoughtful  -expression 
which  was  almost  stern,  and  made  Jane  feel  quite 
disposed  to  be  afraid  of  her.  The  beautiful  girl 
she  liked  very  much. 

While  the  children  were  sitting  thus  upon  the 
sofa,  waiting  to  see  what  was  next  going  to  hap- 
pen to  them,  several  persons  passed  along  that 
way,  taking  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  notice 


Getting  Settled.  71 

The  lady  who  hated  children  on  board  ship. 

of  them  as  they  passed.  Some  merely  stared  at 
them,  as  if  wondering  how  they  came  there,  and 
what  they  were  doing.  One  lady  looked  kindly 
at  them,  but  did  not  speak.  Another  lady,  ap- 
parently about  forty  years  of  age,  walked  by 
them  with  a  haughty  air,  talking  all  the  time 
with  a  gentleman  who  was  with  her.  Jane  heard 
her  say  to  the  gentleman,  as  soon  as  she  had 
passed  them, — 

"  What  a  quantity  of  children  we  have  on 
board  this  ship  !  I  hate  children  on  board  ship, 
they  are  so  noisy  and  troublesome." 

Jane  did  not  say  any  thing  in  reply  to  this,  but 
she  thought  that  she  and  Rollo,  at  least,  did  not 
deserve  such  censures,  for  they  had  certainly  not 
been  noisy  or  troublesome. 

Presently  Jane  saw  the  beautiful  girl,  who  has 
been  already  spoken  of,  rise  and  come  toward 
them.  She  was  very  glad  to  see  this,  for  now, 
thought  she,  we  have  a  friend  coming.  The 
young  lady  came  walking  along  carelessly  to- 
ward them,  and  when  she  came  near  she  looked 
at  them  a  moment,  and  then  said,  in  a  pert  and 
forward  manner,  — 

"What  are  you  sitting  here  for,  children,  so 
long,  all  alone  ?     Where  is  your  father  ?  " 

"  My  father  is  in  Liverpool,  I  suppose,"  said 
Eollo. 


72  EOLLO     ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  beautiful  girl.  Her  conversation  with  Rollo. 

"  "Well,  your  mother,  then,"  said  the  young 
lady,  "  or  whoever  has  the  care  of  you  ?  " 

"  My  mother  is  in  Liverpool,  too,"  said  Rollo  ; 
"  and  there  is  nobody  who  has  the  care  of  us  on 
hoard  this  ship." 

"  Why,  you  are  not  going  to  cross  the  Atlantic 
all  by  yourselves,  are  you  ?  "  said  the  young  lady, 
in  a  tone  of  great  astonishment. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  unless  we  find  somebody 
to  be  kind  enough  to  help  us." 

"La!  how  queer!"  said  the  young  lady.  "I 
am  sure  I'm  glad  enough  that  I  am  not  in  your 
places." 

So  saying,  the  beautiful  young  lady  walked  on. 

All  the  beauty,  however,  which  she  had  before 
possessed  in  Jane's  eves  was  entirely  dissipated 
by  this  heartless  behavior.  Both  Jane  and  Rollo, 
for  all  the  rest  of  the  voyage,  thought  her  one 
of  the  ugliest  girls  they  had  ever  seen. 

It  was  some  minutes  after  this  before  any  other 
person  approached  the  children.  Jane~observed, 
however,  that  the  other  young  lady  —  the  one 
who  had  appeared  to  her  so  plain  —  looked  fre- 
quently toward  her  and  Rollo,  with  an  expres- 
sion of  interest  and  kindness  upon  her  counte- 
nance. At  length  she  rose  from  her  seat,  and 
came  acros3  the  cabin,  and  sat  down  by  Jane's 
side. 


Getting  Settled.  73 

Maria.  Ro  lo's  account  of  himself  and  Jane. 

"  May  I  come  and  sit  by  you  ?  "  said  she  to 
Jane.     "  You  seem  to  be  all  alone." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jane  ;  "  wo  don't  know  any  body 
in  this  ship." 

"  Not  any  body  ?  "  said  the  young  lady.  "  Then 
you  may  know  me.  My  name  is  Maria.  But 
your  father  and  mother  are  on  board  the  ship, 
are  they  not  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo.  "  There  is  not  any  body  on 
board  this  ship  that  belongs  to  us." 

Maria  seemed  very  much  astonished  at  hear- 
ing this,  and  she  asked  the  children  how  it  hap- 
pened that  they  were  sent  across  the  Atlantic 
alone.  Upon  which  Rollo,  in  a  very  clear  and 
lucid  manner,  explained  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case  to  her.  He  told  her  about  his  father 
being  sick  in  England,  and  about  his  having  sent 
for  him  and  Jane  to  go  to  England  and  meet 
him  there.  He  also  explained  what  Mr.  George's 
plan  had  been  for  providing  them  with  a  protect- 
or on  the  voyage,  and  how  it  had  been  defeated 
by  the  accident  of  the  loss  of  the  trunk.  He 
also  told  her  how  narrowly  they  had  escaped 
having  the  trunk  itself  left  behind.  He  ended 
by  saying  that  there  were  several  of  his  father's 
friends  on  board,  only  he  did  not  know  of  any 
way  by  which  he  could  find  out  who  they  were. 

"  Never  mind  that,"  said  Maria.     "  I  will  take 


74  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Inquiry  for  Rolio's  stare  room.  The  ticket  found. 

care  of  you.  You  need  not  be  at  all  afraid  ; 
you  will  get  aloLg  very  well.  Have  you  got 
any  state  room  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Well,  I  will  go  and  find  the  chambermaid, 
and  she  will  get  you  one.  Then  we  will  have 
your  trunk  sent  to  it,  and  you  will  feel  quite  at 
borne  there." 

So  Maria  went  away,  and  presently  returned 
with  one  of  the  chambermaids. 

When  the  chambermaid  learned  that  there 
were  two  children  on  board  without  any  one  to 
take  care  of  them,  she  was  very  much  interested 
in  their  case.  Rollo  heard  her  say  to  Maria,  as 
they  came  up  together  toward  the  sofa  where 
the  children  were  sitting,  — 

"  0,  yes,  I  will  find  them  a  state  room,  if  they 
have  not  got  one  already.  Children,"  she  add- 
ed, when  she  came  near,  "  are  you  sure  you  have 
not  got  any  state  room? " 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "I  did  not  know  when 
the  captain's  office  was." 

"  0,  you  don't  go  to  the  captain's  office,"  said 
the  chambermaid.  "  They  pay  for  the  passage 
and  get  the  tickets  in  Wall  Street." 

"Perhaps  this  is  it,  then,"  said  Rollo.  And 
30  saying,  he  took  out  his  wallet,  and  there,  from 
one  of  the  inner  compartments,  where  his  uncle 


Getting  Settled.  76 

Tile  children  go  into  the  state  room.  The  interior. 

George  had  placed  it  away  very  carefully,  he 
produced  a  paper.  The  chambermaid  opened  it, 
eaying,  "  Yes,  this  is  all  right.  Berths  sixteen 
and  eighteen.  Come  with  me,  and  I'll  show  you 
sphere  they  are." 

So  the  two  children,  accompanied  by  Maria 
•followed  the  chambermaid,  who  led  the  way 
across  the  cabin,  and  there,  entering  a  passage 
ivay,  she  opened  a  door,  by  means  of  a  beautiful 
oorcelain  knob  which  was  upon  it.  They  all 
went  in.  They  found  themselves  in  a  small  room, 
qo  bigger  than  a  large  closet,  but  they  saw  at  a 
glance  that  it  was  very  beautifully  finished  and 
furnished.  On  the  front  side  was  a  round  win- 
dow like  those  they  had  seen  in  the  dining  sa- 
loon. Under  this  window  was  a  couch,  with  a 
pillow  at  the  head  of  it.  On  the  back  side  were 
two  berths,  one  above  the  other,  with  very  pret- 
ty curtains  before  them. 

"  There  !  "  said  the  chambermaid,  "  sixteen. 
That  lower  berth  is  yours." 

"  And  whose  is  the  upper  berth  ? "  asked 
Maria. 

"That  is  not  taken,  I  think,"  said  the  cham 
bermaid. 

"  Then  I  will  take  it,"  said  Maria.  "  I  will 
come  into  this  state  room,  and  then  I  can  look 
after  Jennie  all  the  time.  But  where  is  Roilo's 
berth  ?  " 


76  R0LL0    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo's  trunk  brought  in.  The  kitten  goes  to  sleep. 

"In  the  next  state  room,"  said  the  chamber- 
maid. 

So  saying,  she  opened  a  door  in  the  end  of  the 
room,  and  found  another  state  room  communi- 
cating with  the  first,  where  she  pointed  out 
Rollo's  berth.  There  was  another  entrance  to 
Rollo's  state  room  from  the  passage  leading 
into  the  cabin,  on  the  farther  side  of  it. 

"  There,"  said  the  chambermaid,  "  now  you  can 
settle  yourselves  here  as  soon  as  you  please.  No- 
body can  come  in  here  to  trouble  you,  for  you 
have  these  little  rooms  all  to  yourselves.  I'll 
go  and  find  a  porter,  and  get  him  to  look  up 
your  trunk  and  send  it  in." 

So  Rollo  went  into  his  state  room,  and  Jane 
sat  down  upon  the  couch  in  hers,  by  the  side  of 
Maria,  looking  very  much  pleased.  She  opened 
the  door  of  the  cage,  and  let  the  kitten  out. 
The  kitten  walked  all  about  the  room,  examin- 
ing every  thing  with  great  attention.  She  jumped 
up  upon  the  marble  washstand,  and  from  that 
she  contrived  to  get  into  the  round  window, 
where  she  stood  for  a  few  minutes  looking  out 
very  attentively  over  the  wide  sea.  Not  know- 
ing, however,  what  to  make  of  so  extraordinary 
a  prospect,  she  presently  jumped  down  again, 
and,  selecting  a  smooth  place  at  the  foot  of  the 
couch,  she  curled  herself  up  into  a  ring  upon  the 
eoft  covering  of  it,  and  went  to  sleep. 


On  Deck.  77 

Arrangements  and  fixtures  in  the  state  room. 


Chapter   V. 

On    Deck. 

As  soon  as  Kollo  and  Jane  found  themselves 
thus  established  in  their  state  rooms,  they  began 
to  examine  the  furniture  and  fixtures  around 
them  with  great  curiosity.  They  were  particu- 
larly interested  in  observing  the  precautions 
which  had  been  taken  in  securing  every  thing 
which  the  state  rooms  contained,  from  the  dan- 
ger of  being  thrown  about  by  the  motion  of  the 
ship.  The  wash  basin  was  made  of  marble,  and 
was  firmly  set  in  its  place,  so  as  to  be  absolutely 
immovable.  There  was  a  hole  in  the  bottom 
of  it,  with  a  plug  in  it,  so  that,  by  drawing  out 
the  plug,  the  water  could  be  let  off  into  a  pipe 
which  conveyed  it  away.  There  was  a  small 
chain  attached  to  this  plug,  by  means  of  which 
it  could  be  draAvn  up  when  any  one  wished  to 
lot  the  water  off.  The  pitcher  was  made  broad 
and  flat  at  the  bottom,  and  very  heavy,  so  that 
it  could  not  be  easily  upset ;  and  then  there  was 
a  socket  for  it  in  the  lower  part  of  the  wash 


78  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  porcelain.  The  looking  glass.  Pegs. 

stand,  which  confined  it  effectually,  and  prevent- 
ed its  sliding  about  when  the  ship  was  rolling 
in  a  heavy  sea. 

The  tumbler  was  secured  in  a  more  curious 
manner  still.  It  was  placed  in  a  brass  ring, 
which  projected  from  the  wall  in  a  corner  over 
the  wash  stand,  and  which  was  made  just  large 
enough  to  receive  it.  The  soap  dish  and  the 
brush  tray  were  also  placed  in  sockets  cut  to 
receive  them  in  the  marble  slab,  which  formed 
the  upper  part  of  the  wash  stand.  The  looking 
glass  was  round,  and  was  screwed  to  the  wall 
by  means  of  a  stem  and  a  ball  or  socket  joint, 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  could  be  set  in  any  po- 
sition required,  according  to  the  height  of  the 
observer,  and  yet  it  could  not  by  any  possibility 
fall  from  its  place.  There  were  very  few  pegs 
or  pins  for  hanging  clothes  upon,  because,  when 
clothes  are  thus  hung,  they  are  found  to  swing 
back  and  forth  whenever  the  ship  is  rolling  in  a 
heavy  sea,  in  a  manner  that  is  very  tiresome  and 
disagreeable  for  sick  passengers  to  see.  Nor 
were  there  many  shelves  about  the  state  room  ;  for 
if  there  had  been,  the  passengers  would  be  likely 
to  put  various  articles  upon  them  when  the  sea 
was  smooth  ;  and  then,  when  the  ship  came  to 
pitch  and  roll  in  gales  of  wind,  the  things  would 
all  slide  off  upon  the  floor.    So  instead  of  shelves 


On  Deck.  79 

Pockets  on  the  wall.  The  children  get  settled. 

there  were  pockets  made  of  canvas  or  duck, 
several  together,  one  above  another.  These 
pockets  formed  very  convenient  receptacles  for 
such  loose  articles  as  the  passengers  might  have 
in  their  state  rooms,  and  were,  of  course,  per- 
fectly secure. 

There  were  two  shelves,  it  is  true,  in  Jennie's 
state  room,  —  one  over  each  of  the  two  wash 
stands,  —  but  they  were  protected  by  a  ledge 
about  the  edges  of  them,  which  would  effectually 
prevent  such  things  as  might  be  placed  upon 
them  from  sliding  off. 

By  the  time  that  Rollo  and  Jane  had  examined 
these  things,  a  porter  came  into  the  state  room, 
bringing  their  trunk  upon  his  shoulder.  Maria 
told  the  children  that  they  had  better  open  the 
trunk  and  take  out  all  that  they  would  be  likely 
to  require  while  on  board,  and  then  stow  the 
trunk  itself  away  under  the  lower  berth,  in  one 
of  the  state  rooms. 

"  Because,"  said  she,  "  as  soon  as  we  get  out 
upon  the  heavy  seas  we  shall  all  be  sick,  and 
then  we  shall  not  wish  to  move  to  do  the  least 
thing." 

"  When  will  that  be  ?  "  asked  Jane. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Maria.  "  Sometimes 
we  have  it  smooth  for  a  good  many  days,  and 
then  there  comes  a  head  wind  and  makes  it 


80  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  finds  a  bag  of  money  in  his  trunk 

rough,  and  all  the  passengers  get  sick  and  very 
wretched." 

"  I  don't  think  that  I.  shall  be  sick,"  said  Rollo. 

"  You  can't  tell,"  said  Maria.  "  Nobody  can 
tell  any  thing  about  it  beforehand." 

In  obedience  to  Maria's  directions,  Rollo 
opened  the  trunk  and  took  out  from  it  all  the 
clothing,  both  for  day  and  night,  which  he 
thought  that  he  and  Jennie  would  require  dur- 
ing the  voyage.  The  night  dresses  he  put  under 
the  pillows  in  the  berths.  The  cloaks,  and  coats, 
and  shawls  which  might  be  required  on  deck 
in  the  day  he  placed  on  the  couches.  Those 
which  belonged  to  him  he  put  in  his  state  room, 
and  those  that  belonged  to  Jennie  in  hers.  While 
engaged  in  these  operations,  he  pulled  up  from 
one  of  the  lower  corners  of  his  trunk  a  small 
leather  purse  or  bag  full  of  money. 

"  What  shall  I  do  with  this  ?  "  he  asked,  hold- 
ing it  up  to  Maria. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Maria. 

"  Money,"  said  Rollo. 

"  How  much  is  there  ?  "  said  Maria. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Rollo.  "  Uncle  George 
put  it  in  here.  He  said  I  ought  to  have  some 
money  to  carry  with  me,  in  case  of  accidents.  I 
don't  suppose  it  is  much." 

"  You  had  better  count  it,  then,"  said  Maria, 


On  Deck.  81 

He  counts  the  sovereigns  and  half  sovereigns. 

"  so  as  to  ascertain  how  much  it  is.  You  and 
Jane  may  count  it  together." 

So  Rollo  and  Jane  sat  down  upon  the  couch, 
and  Rollo  poured  out  the  money  into  Jennie's 
lap.  It  was  all  gold.  Maria  said  that  the  coins 
were  sovereigns  and  half  sovereigns.  The  large 
ones  were  sovereigns,  and  the  small  ones  were 
half  sovereigns.  Rollo  proposed  that  he  should 
count  the  sovereigns,  and  that  Jennie  might  count 
the  half  sovereigns.  It  proved,  when  the  count- 
ing was  completed,  that  there  were  thirty  sov- 
ereigns and  twenty  half  sovereigns. 

"  That  makes  forty  sovereigns  in  all,"  said 
Maria.     "  That  is  a  great  deal  of  money." 

"  How  much  is  it  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  in  American  money,"  said  Maria,  "  it 
makes  about  two  hundred  dollars." 

"  Two  hundred  dollars  !  "  repeated  Rollo,  with 
astonishment.  "  What  could  uncle  George  tliink 
I  could  want  of  all  this  money  ?  " 

"  It  was  in  case  of  accidents,"  said  Maria. 
"  For  example,  suppose  this  ship  should  be  cast 
away  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  all  the 
passengers  and  baggage  be  saved,  what  could 
you  do  there  without  any  money." 

"  Why,  I  should  think  that  somebody  there 
would  take  care  of  us,"  replied  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  Maria,  "  I  suppose  they  would  ; 
p 


82  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Maria's  advice.  Rollo  is  convinced  by  her  reasonings. 

but  it  is  a  great  deal  better  to  have  money  of 
your  own.  Besides,  suppose  that  when  you  get 
to  Liverpool,  for  some  reason  or  other,  your 
father  should  not  be  there.  Then,  having  plenty 
of  money,  you  could  go  to  a  hotel  and  stay  there 
till  your  father  comes.  Or  you  could  ask  some 
one  of  the  passengers  who  is  going  to  London  to 
let  you  go  with  him,  and  you  could  tell  him  that 
you  had  plenty  of  money  to  pay  the  expenses." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  though  I  don't  think  there 
is  any  doubt  that  my  father  will  be  in  Liverpool 
when  we  arrive." 

"  I  hope  he  will  be,  I  am  sure,"  said  Maria. 
"  But  now,  put  up  the  money  again  in  the  purse, 
tie  it  up  securely,  and  replace  it  in  the  trunk. 
Then  you  must  keep  the  trunk  locked  all  the 
time,  and  keep  the  key  in  your  pocket." 

Rollo  felt  quite  proud  of  being  intrusted  with 
so  much  money  ;  so  he  replaced  the  bag  in  the 
trunk  with  great  care,  and  locked  it  safely. 

"  Now,"  said  Maria,  "  this  is  your  home  while 
you  are  on  board  this  ship.  When  you  choose, 
you  can  come  here  and  be  alone ;  and  you  can 
lie  down  and  rest  here  whenever  you  are  tired. 
At  other  times  you  can  ramble  about  the  ship, 
in  all  proper  places." 

"  How  shall  I  know  what  the  proper  places 
are  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 


On  Deck.  83 

Maria's  brother.  He  is  sick.        Rolio  and  Jennie  on  deck. 

"  Why,  you  will  see  where  the  other  passen 
gers  go,"  replied  Maria  ;  "  and  wherever  you  see 
them  go,  you  can  go  yourself.  That  is  as  good 
a  rule  as  you  can  have." 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo.  "  And  now,  Jane,  let  ub 
go  up  on  deck  and  see  what  we  can  see." 

Jane  was  pleased  with  this  proposal ;  so  she 
followed  Rollo  to  the  deck.  Maria  said  that  she 
would  come  by  and  by,  but  for  the  present  she 
wished  to  go  and  see  her  brother.  She  said  that 
she  had  a  brother  on  board  who  was  quite  out 
of  health.  He  was  going  to  Europe  in  hopes 
that  the  voyage  would  restore  him.  At  present, 
however,  he  was  very  unwell,  and  was  confined 
to  his  berth,  and  she  must  go  and  see  him. 

So  Rollo  and  Jane  went  to  see  if  they  could 
find  their  way  up  on  deck  alone.  Rollo  went 
before,  and  Jane  followed.  They  ascended  the 
steep  stairs  where  they  had  gone  up  at  first,  and 
then  walked  aft  upon  the  deck  until  they  came 
to  the  settees  where  they  had  been  sitting  before 
the  luncheon.  They  sat  down  upon  one  of  these 
settees,  where  they  had  a  fine  view,  not  only  of 
the  wide  expanse  of  sea  on  every  hand,  but  also 
of  the  whole  extent  of  the  decks  of  the  ship. 
They  remained  here  nearly  two  hours,  observing 
what  was  going  on  arourd  them,  and  they  saw 


84  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  hears  a  bell.  He  wonders  what  it  means. 

a  great  many  things  that  interested  them  very 
much  indeed. 

The  first  thing  that  attracted  their  attention 
was  the  sound  of  a  bell,  which  struck  four  strokes 
very  distinctly,  and  in  a  very  peculiar  manner, 
near  where  the  helmsman  stood  in  steering  the 
ship.  This  bell  has  already  been  mentioned.  It 
hung  directly  before  the  helmsman's  window,  and 
it  had  a  short  rope  attached  to  the  clapper  of  it. 
The  helmsman,  or  the  man  at  the  wheel,  as  he  is 
sometimes  called,  from  the  fact  that  he  steers  the 
ship  by  means  of  a  wheel,  with  handles  all  around 
the  periphery  of  it,  had  c-pened  his  window  just 
after  Rollo  and  Jane  had  taken  their  seats,  and 
had  pulled  this  clapper  so  as  to  strike  four  strokes 
upon  the  bell,  the  strokes  being  in  pairs,  thus  :  — 

Ding  —  ding  !     Ding  —  ding  ! 

In  a  minute  afterward,  Rollo  and  Jane  heard 
the  sound  repeated  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
from  another  bell,  that  seemed  to  be  far  in  the 
forward  part  of  the  ship. 

Ding  —  ding  !     Ding  —  ding  ! 

"  I  wonder  what  that  means  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  expect  it  means  that  it  is  four  o'clock," 
said  Jane. 

"  I  should  not  think  it  could  be  so  late  as  four 
©'clock,"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  and  ask  the  helms* 


On  Deck.  85 

Rollo  and  Jennie  watch  the  sailors  on  the  rigging. 

man  what  it  means,"  lie  added,  after  a  moment's 
pause. 

"  No,"  said  Jane,  "  you  must  not  go." 
It  is  difficult  to  say  precisely  why  Jane  did  not 
wish  to  have  Rollo  go  and  ask  the  helmsman 
about  the  bell,  but  she  had  an  instinctive  feeling 
that  it  was  better  not  to  do  it.  So  Rollo  sat 
still.  His  attention  was  very  soon  turned  away 
from  the  bell  by  Jane's  calling  out  to  him  to  see 
some  sailors  go  up  the  rigging.  There  were 
regular  shrouds,  as  they  are  called,  that  is,  lad- 
ders formed  of  ropes,  which  led  up  on  each  side 
of  the  masts  part  way  to  where  the  sailors  seemed 
to  wish  to  go.  Above  the  top  of  the  shrouds 
there  were  only  single  ropes,  and  Rollo  wondered 
what  the  sailors  would  clo  when  they  came  to 
these.  They  found  no  difficulty,  however,  for 
when  they  reached  the  top  of  the  shrouds  they 
continued  to  mount  by  the  ropes  with  very  little 
apparent  effort.  They  would  take  hold  of  two 
of  the  ropes  that  were  a  little  distance  apart 
with  their  hands,  and  then,  curling  their  legs 
round  them  in  a  peculiar  manner  below,  they 
would  mount  up  very  easily.  They  thus  reached 
the  yard,  as  it  is  called,  which  is  a  long,  round 
beam,  extending  along  the  upper  edge  of  the 
sail,  and,  spreading  themselves  out  upon  it  in  a 
row,  they  proceeded  to  do  the  work  required 


86  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hollo  thinks  that  he  could  cliinb  the  rigging. 

upon  the  sail,  leaning  over  upon  the  yard  above, 
and  standing  upon  a  rope,  which  was  stretched 
for  the  purpose  along  the  whole  length  of  it 
below. 

"  I  wonder  if  I"  could  climb  up  there,"  said 
Eollo.  "  Do  you  suppose  they  would  let  me 
try?" 

"  No,  indeed  !  "  said  Jane,  very  earnestly  ; 
"  you  must  not  try,  by  any  means." 

"  I  believe  that  I  could  climb  up  there,"  said 
Hollo  ;  "  that  is,  if  the  vessel  would  stop  rocking 
to  and  fro,  and  hold  still." 

Presently,  however,  a  boy,  who  appeared  to  be 
about  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  who 
was  upon  another  mast,  accomplished  a  feat  which 
even  Rollo  himself  admitted  that  he  should  not 
dare  to  undertake.  It  seemed  that  he  had  some 
operation  to  perform  upon  a  part  of  the  rigging 
down  some  fifteen  feet  from  where  he  was  ;  so, 
with  a  rope  hung  over  his  shoulder,  he  came 
down  hand  over  hand,  by  a  single  rope  or  cable 
called  a  stay,  until  he  reached  the  place  where 
the  work  was  to  be  performed.  Here  he  stopped, 
and,  clinging  to  the  rope  that  he  had  come  down 
upon  with  his  legs  and  one  hand,  he  contrived 
with  the  other  hand  to  fasten  one  end  of  the 
short  rope  which  he  had  brought  with  him  to  the 
stay,  and  then,  carrying  the  other  end  across,  ho 


On  Deck, 


87 


The  sailor  boy  on  a  rope  seat. 


Rollo  wonders. 


fastened  it  to  another  cable  which  was  aear. 
He  then  seated  himself  upon  this  cross  rope  as 
upon  a  seat,  and  clinging  to  his  place  by  his  legs, 


^H 


-.« ». 


m 


he  had  his  hands  free  for  his  work.  When  lie 
had  finished  his  work  he  untied  the  cross  rope, 
and  then  went  up  the  cable  hand  over  hand  as 
he  had  come  down. 

"  I  am  sure  I  could  not  do  that,"  said  Rollo, 
"  And  I  should  not  think  that  any  body  but  a 
monkey  could  do  it,  or  a  spider." 


88  Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

Singular  appearance  of  the  men  on  the  rigging.  Spiders. 

In  fact,  the  lines  of  rigging,  as  seen  from  the 
place  where  Eollo  and  Jane  were  seated,  looked 
so  fine,  and  the  men  appeared  so  small,  that  the 
whole  spectacle  naturally  reminded  one  of  a 
gigantic  spider's  web,  with  black  spiders  of  curi- 
ous forms  ascending  and  descending  upon  them, 
so  easily  and  adroitly  did  the  men  pass  to  and 
fro  and  up  and  down,  attaching  new  lines  to  new 
points,  and  then  running  off  with  them,  as  a  spi- 
der would  do  with  her  thread,  wherever  they 
were  required.  But  after  all,  in  respect  to  the 
power  of  running  about  among  lines  and  rigging, 
the  spider  is  superior  to  man.  She  can  not  only 
run  up  and  down  far  more  easily  and  readily 
wherever  she  wishes  to  go,  but  she  can  make 
new  attachments  with  a  touch,  and  make  them 
strong  enough  to  bear  her  own  weight  and  all 
other  strains  that  come  upon  them  ;  while  the 
sailor,  as  Rollo  and  Jane  observed  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  obliged  in  his  fastenings  to  wind  his 
ropes  round  and  round,  and  tie  them  into  com- 
plicated knots,  and  then  secure  the  ends  with 
"  spun  yarn." 

While  Rollo  and  Jane  were  watching  the  sail- 
ors, they  saw  them  unfurl  one  after  another  of 
the  sails,  and  spread  them  to  the  wind  ;  for  the 
wind  was  now  fair,  and  it  was  fresh  enough  to 
assist  the  engines  considerably  in  propelling  the 


On  Deck.  89 

The  air  is  mild  and  balmy.  Rollo  and  Jane  watch  for  whales. 

ship  through  the  water.  Still,  as  the  ship  was 
going  the  same  way  with  the  wind,  the  breeze 
was  scarcely  felt  upon  the  deck.  The  air  was 
mild  and  balmy,  and  the  surface  of  the  sea  was 
comparatively  smooth,  so  that  the  voyage  was 
beginning  very  prosperously.  Rollo  looked  all 
around  the  horizon,  but  he  could  see  no  land  in 
any  direction.  There  was  not  even  a  ship  in 
sight ;  nothing  but  one  wide  and  boundless  waste 
of  waters. 

"I  should  think  that  there  would  be  some 
other  ships  going  to  England  to  day,"  he  said, 
"  besides  ours." 

Jane  did  not  know  what  to  think  on  such  a 
subject,  and  so  she  did  not  reply. 

"Let  us  watch  for  whales,"  said  Rollo.  "Per 
haps  we  shall  see  a  whale.  You  watch  the  water 
all  along  on  that  side,  and  I  will  on  this  side  ; 
and  if  you  see  any  whale  spout,  tell  me." 

So  they  both  kept  watch  for  some  time,  but 
neither  of  them  saw  any  spouting.  Jane  gave 
one  alarm,  having  seen  some  large,  black-looking 
monsters  rise  to  the  surface  not  far  from  them 
on  one  side  of  the  ship.  She  called  out  eagerly 
to  Rollo  to  look.  He  did  so,  but  he  said  that 
they  were  not  whales  ;  they  were  porpoises.  He 
had  seen  porpoises  often  before,  in  bays  and 
aarbors. 


90  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  helmsman  strikes  five  bells.  Rollo  asks  an  explanation. 

Just  then  the  bell  near  the  helmsman's  window 
struck  again,  though  in  a  manner  a  little  differ- 
ent from  before  ;  for  after  the  two  pairs  of  strokes 
which  had  been  heard  before  there  came  a  single 
stroke,  making  five  in  all,  thus  :  — 

Ding  —  ding  !     Ding  —  cling  !     Ding. 

Immediately  afterward  the  sound  was  repeat- 
ed in  the  forward  part  of  the  ship,  as  it  had  been 
before. 

Ding  —  ding!     Ding  —  ding!     Ding, 

"  I  wonder  what  that  means,"  said  Rollo. 

Just  then  an  officer  of  the  ship,  in  his  walk  up 
and  down  the  deck,  passed  near  to  where  Rollo 
was  sitting,  and  Rollo  instinctively  determined 
to  ask  him. 

"  Will  you  please  tell  me,  sir,  what  that  strik- 
ing means  ?  " 

'"  It's  five  bells,"  said  the  man  ;  and  so  walked 
on. 


A    CONVERSATION.  91 


Rollo  and  Jennie  form  acquaintance  with  the  surgeon. 


Chapter  VI. 

A     CONVEESATION. 

Rollo  at  first  felt  quite  disappointed  that  the 
officer  seemed  so  little  disposed  to  give  him  in- 
formation ;  but  immediately  after  the  officer  had 
gone  another  man  came  by,  one  of  the  passen 
gers,  as  Rollo  supposed,  who  proved  to  be  mor 
communicative.  He  wore  a  glazed  cap  and  a 
very  shaggy  greatcoat.  He  sat  down  by  the 
side  of  Jennie,  Rollo  being  on  the  other  side, 
and  said,  — 

"  He  does  not  seem  inclined  to  tell  you  much 
about  the  bells,  does,  he,  Rollo  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  Rollo  ;  "  but  how  did  you 
know  that  my  name  was  Rollo  ?  " 

"  0,  I  heard  about  you  down  in  the  cabin," 
replied  the  stranger  ;  "  and  about  you  too,  Jen- 
nie, and  your  beautiful  little  kitten.  But  I  will 
explain  the  meaning  of  the  bells  to  you.  I  know 
all  about  them.  I  belong  on  board  this  ship.  I 
am  the  surgeon." 


92  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

-« 

Why  they  cannot  use  clocks  at  sea. 

"  Are  you  ?  "  said  Rollo.  "  I  did  not  know 
that  there  was  any  surgeon  in  the  ship." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  gentleman.  "  It  is  quite 
necessary  to  have  a  surgeon.  Sometimes  the 
seamen  get  hurt,  and  require  attendance ;  and 
then  sometimes  there  are  cases  of  sickness  among 
the  passengers.  I  have  got  quite  a  little  apothe- 
cary's shop  in  my  state  room.  I  will  show  it  to 
you  by  and  by.     But  now  about  the  bells. 

"  You  must  know,"  continued  the  surgeon, 
"  that  people  strike  the  time  at  sea  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent manner  from  that  which  is  customary  on 
land.  In  the  first  place,  they  have  a  man  to 
strike  it  ;  they  cannot  have  a  clock." 

"  I  do  not  see  why  not,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Because  at  sea,"  rejoined  the  surgeon,  "  the 
time  changes  every  day,  and  no  clock  going  reg- 
ularly can  keep  it.  Time  depends  upon  the  sun, 
and  when  the  ship  is  going  east  she  goes  to  meet 
the  sun  ;  and  it  becomes  noon,  that  is,  midday, 
earlier.  When  the  ship  is  going  west,  she  goes 
away  from  the  sun,  and  then  it  becomes  noon 
later.  Thus  noon  has  to  be  fixed  every  day  anew, 
and  a  clock  going  regularly  all  the  time  would 
be  continually  getting  wrong.  Then,  besides, 
the  rolling  and  pitching  of  the  ship  would  de- 
range the  motion  of  the  weights  and  pendulum 
of  the  clock.     In  fact,  I  don't  believe  that  a 


A   Conversation.  93 

Gimbals.  The  ship's  lime  kept  by  half  hours. 

?  clock  could  be  made  to  go  at  all  —  unless,  in- 
deed, it  were  hung  on  gimbals." 
"  What  are  gimbals  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 
"  They  are  a  pair  of  rings,"  replied  the  sur- 
«  geon,  "  one  within  the  other,  and  each  mounted 
\  on  pivots  in  such  a  manner  that  any  thing  hung 
•  within  the  inner  ring  will  swing  any  way  freely. 
|  The  lamps  down  in  the  cabin  are  hung  on  giin- 
1  bals." 
:,      "  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  saw  them." 

"  Then,  besides,"  continued  the  surgeon,  "  if 
/  the  men  strike  the  bells  themselves,  the  sound, 
i  coming  regularly  every  half  hour,  proves  that 
I  they  are  at  their  posts  and  attending   to  their 
duties.     So  that,  even  if  a  machine  could  be  in- 
vented to  strike  the  time  on  board  ship  ever  so 
truly,  I  do  not  think  they  would  like  to  adopt  it. 
"  Another  difference  in  striking  the  time  on 
board  ship,"  continued  the  surgeon,   "  is,  that 
they  strike  it  by  half  hours  instead  of  by  hours. 
Scarcely  any  of  the  ship's  company  have  watches. 
In  fact,  watches  are  of  very  little  use  at  sea,  the 
time  is  so  continually  changing  from  day  to  da.j. 
The  sailors,  therefore,  and  nearly  all  on  board, 
depend  wholly  on  the  bells  ;  and  it  is  necessary, 
accordingly,  that  they  should  be  struck  often. 
Every  two  bells,  therefore,  means  an  hour  ;  and 
a  single  bell  at  the  end  means  half  an  hour. 


94  Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  system  of  bells.  The  surgeon  makes  believe  strike  the  bells. 

Now,  I  will  strike  the  bells  for  you,  and  you  may 
tell  me  what  o'clock  it  is.  We  begin  after  twelve 
o'clock. 

"  Ding  ! " 

"  Half  past  twelve,"  said  Hollo. 

"  Ding  —  ding  !  "  said  the  surgeon  again,  imi- 
tating the  sound  of  the  bell  with  his  voice. 

"  One  o'clock,"  said  Hollo. 

"  Ding  —  ding  !     Ding  !  "  said  the  surgeon. 

"  Half  past  one  o'clock." 

"  Ding  —  ding  !     Ding  —  ding  !  " 

"  Two  o'clock  !  " 

"Ding  —  ding!     Ding  —  ding!     Ding!" 

"  Half  past  two." 

"  Ding  —  ding  !  Ding  —  ding !  Ding  —  ding !  * 

"  Three !  " 

"  Ding  —  ding  !  Ding  —  ding  !  Ding  —  ding  ! 
Ding !  " 

"  Half  past  three." 

"  Ding  —  ding  !  Ding  —  ding  !  Ding  —  ding  ! 
Ding  —  ding  !  " 

"  Four  o'clock." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  surgeon,  "  that  is  eight  bells, 
and  that  is  the  end.  Now  they  stop  and  begin 
again  with  one  bell,  which  means  half  past  four ; 
and  so  they  go  on  to  eight  bells  again,  which 
makes  it  eight  o'clock.  The  next  eight  bells  ia 
twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and  the  next  is  at  four 


A   Conversation.  95 

E'ght  bells.  Change  of  watches.  Dinner  time. 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  the  next  at  eight 
o'clock.  So  that  eight  bells  means  four  o'clock, 
and  eight  o'clock,  and  twelve  o'clock,  by  day ; 
'  and  four  o'clock,  and  eight  o'clock,  and  twelve 
o'clock,  by  night." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  now  I  understand  it." 

"  Eight  bells  is  a  very  important  striking," 
continued  the  surgeon.  "  It  is  a  curious  fact, 
that  almost  every  thing  important  that  is  done 
at  sea  is  done  at  some  eight  bells  or  other." 

"  How  is  that  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  in  the  first  place,"  replied  the  surgeon, 
"  at  eight  bells  in  the  morning,  the  gong  sounds 
to  wake  the  passengers  up.  Then  the  watch 
changes,  too  ;  that  is,  the  set  of  men  that  have 
been  on  deck  and  had  care  of  the  ship  and  the 
sails  since  midnight  go  below,  and  a  new  watch, 
that  is,  a  new  set  of  men  that  have  been  asleep 
since  midnight,  take  their  places.  Then  the  next 
eight  bells,  which  is  twelve,  is  luncheon  time. 
At  this  time,  too,  the  captain  finds  out  from  the 
sun  whereabouts  we  are  on  the  ocean,  and  also 
determines  the  ship's  time  for  the  next  twenty ■ 
four  hours.  The  next  eight  bells  is  at  four 
o'clock,  and  that  is  dinner  time.  The  next  eight 
bells  is  at  eight  o'clock,  and  that  is  tea  time. 
At  all  these  times  the  watches  change  too  ;  and 


96  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Asking  questions  at  sea.  The  "  first  of  the  month  " 

so  they  do  at  the  eight  bells,  which  sound  at 
midnight." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  now  I  understand  it.  I 
wished  to  know  very  much  what  it  meant,  and  I 
had  a  great  mind  to  go  and  ask  the  helmsman." 

"  It  was  well  that  you  did  not  go  and  ask 
him,"  said  the  surgeon. 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Because  the  officers  and  seamen  on  board 
ships,"  replied  the  surgeon,  "  don't  like  to  be 
troubled  with  questions  from  landsmen  while 
they  are  engaged  in  their  duties.  Even  the  sen- 
sible questions  of  landsmen  appear  very  foolish 
to  seamen  ;  and  then,  besides,  they  commonly  ask 
a  great  many  that  are  absolutely  very  foolish. 
They  ask  the  captain  when  he  thinks  they  will 
get  to  the  end  of  the  voyage  ;  or,  if  the  wind  is 
ahead,  they  ask  him  when  he  thinks  it  will 
change,  and  all  such  foolish  questions  ;  as  if  the 
captain  or  any  body  else  could  tell  when  the 
wind  would  change.  Sailors  have  all  sorts  of 
queer  answers  to  give  to  these  questions,  to  quiz 
the  passengers  who  ask  them,  and  amuse  them- 
selves. For  instance,  if  the  passengers  ask  when 
any  thing  is  going  to  happen,  the  sailors  say, 
•  The  first  of  the  month.'  That  is  a  sort  of  prov- 
erb among  them,  and  is  meart  only  in  fun.     But 


A   Conversation.  97 

Examples  of  foolish  questions.  Inquiring  for  whales. 

if  it  happens  to  be  near  the  end  of  the  month, 
the  passenger,  supposing  the  answer  is  in  earnest, 
goes  away  quite  satisfied,  while  the  sailors  wink 
at  each  other  and  laugh." 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "  I  heard  a  lady  ask  the 
captain,  a  short  time  since,  when  he  thought  we 
should  get  to  Liverpool." 

"  And  what  did  the  captain  say  ?  "  asked  the 
surgeon. 

"  He  said,"  replied  Rollo,  "  that  she  must  go 
and  ask  Boreas  and  Neptune,  and  some  of  those 
fellows,  for  they  could  tell  a  great  deal  better 
than  he  could." 

"  The  captain  does  not  like  to  be  asked  any  such 
questions,"  continued  the  surgeon.  "  He  cannot 
possibly  know  how  the  wind  and  sea  are  going 
to  be  during  the  voyage,  and  he  does  not  like  to 
be  teased  with  foolish  inquiries  on  the  subject. 
There  is  no  end  to  the  foolishness  of  the  ques- 
tions which  landsmen  ask  when  they  are  at  sea. 
Once  I  heard  a  man  stop  a  sailor,  as  he  was  going 
up  the  shrouds,  to  inquire  of  him  whether  he 
thought  they  would  see  any  whales  on  that  voy- 
age." 

"  And  what  did  the  sailor  tell  him  ?  "  asked 
Rollo. 

"  He  told  him,"  replied  the  surgeon,  "  that  he 
thought  there  would  be  some  in  sight  the  next 
G 


98  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  passenger  watching  for  whales.  Ridiculous  questions. 

morning  about  sunrise.  So  the  passenger  got  up 
early  the  next  morning  and  took  his  seat  on  the 
deck,  watching  every  where  for  whales,  while  the 
sailors  on  the  forecastle,  who  had  told  the  story 
to  one  another,  were  all  laughing  at  him." 

Hollo  himself  laughed  at  this  story. 

"  These  questions,  after  all,  are  not  really  so 
foolish  as  they  seem,"  said  the  surgeon.  "  For 
instance,  if  a  passenger  asks  about  seeing  whales, 
he  means  merely  to  inquire  whether  there  are 
whales  in  that  part  of  the  ocean,  and  whether 
they  are  usually  seen  from  the  ships  that  pass 
along  ;  and  if  so,  how  frequently,  in  ordinary 
cases,  the  sight  of  them  may  be  expected.  All 
this,  rightly  understood,  is  sensible  and  proper 
enough  ;  but  sailors  are  not  great  philosophers, 
and  they  generally  see  nothing  in  such  inquiries 
but  proofs  of  ridiculous  simplicity  and  chances 
for  them  to  make  fun. 

"  You  can  tell  jnst  how  it  seems  to  them  your- 
self, Rollo,"  continued  the  surgeon,  "  by  imagin- 
ing that  some  farmer's  boys  lived  on  a  farm 
where  sailors,  who  had  never  been  in  the  country 
before,  came  by  every  day,  and  asked  an  endless 
series  of  ridiculous  questions.  For  instance,  on 
seeing  a  sheep,  the  sailor  would  ask  what  that 
was.  The  farmer's  boys  would  tell  him  it  was  a 
eheep.     The  sailor  would  ask  what  it  was  for 


A   Conversation.  99 

The  ludicrous  ignorance  of  sailors  on  shore  and  of  landsmen  at  sea. 

The  boys  would  say  they  kept  sheep  to  shear 
them  and  get  the  wool.  Then  presently  the 
sailor  would  see  a  cow,  and  would  ask  if  that 
was  a  kind  of  sheep.  The  farmer's  boys  would 
say  no  ;  it  was  a  cow.  Then  the  sailor  would 
ask  if  they  sheared  cows  to  get  the  wool.  No, 
the  boys  would  say  ;  we  milk  cows.  Then  pres- 
ently he  would  see  a  horse,  and  he  would  ask 
whether  that  was  a  cow  or  a  sheep.  They  would 
say  it  was  neither  ;  it  was  a  horse.  Then  the 
sailor  would  ask  whether  they  kept  horses  to 
milk  them  or  to  shear  them  and  so  on  forever." 

Rollo  laughed  loud  and  long  at  these  imagi- 
nary questionings.     At  last  he  said,  — 

"  But  I  don't  think  we  ask  quite  such  foolish 
questions  as  these." 

"  They  do  not  seem  so  foolish  to  you,"  replied 
the  surgeon,  "  but  they  do  to  the  sailors.  The 
sailors,  you  see,  know  all  the  ropes  and  rigging 
of  the  ship,  and  every  thing  seen  at  sea,  just  as 
familiarly  as  boys  who  live  in  the  country  do 
sheep,  and  cows,  and  wagons,  and  other  such 
objects  seen  about  the  farm  ;  and  the  total  igno 
ranee  in  regard  to  them  which  landsmen  betray, 
whenever  they  begin  to  ask  questions  on  board, 
seems  to  the  sailors  extremely  ridiculous  and  ab- 
surd. So  they  often  make  fun  of  the  passengers 
who  ask  them,  and  put  all  sorts  of  jokes  upon 


100  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 


The  surgeon's  home. 


them.  For  instance,  a  passenger  on  board  a 
packet  ship  once  asked  a  sailor  what  time  they 
would  heave  the  log.  '  The  log,'  said  the  sail- 
or, '  they  always  heave  the  log  at  nine  bells. 
When  you  hear  nine  bells  strike,  go  aft,  and 
you'll  see  them.'  So  the  passenger  watched  and 
counted  the  bells  every  time  they  struck,  all  the 
morning,  in  the  hopes  to  hear  nine  bells ;  where- 
as they  never  strike  more  than  eight  bells.  It 
was  as  if  a  man  had  said,  on  land,  that  such  or 
such  a  thing  would  happen  at  thirteen  o'clock." 

Rollo  and  Jennie  laughed. 

"  So  you  must  be  careful,"  continued  the  sur- 
geon, "  what  questions  you  ask  of  the  officers  and 
seamen  about  the  ship  ;  and  you  must  be  careful, 
too,  what  you  believe  in  respect  to  the  things  they 
tell  you.  Perhaps  it  will  be  the  truth  they  will 
tell  you,  and  perhaps  they  will  be  only  making 
fun  of  you.  You  may  ask  me,  however,  any 
thing  you  like.  I  will  answer  you  honestly.  I 
am  at  leisure,  and  can  tell  you  as  well  as  not. 
Besides,  I  like  to  talk  with  young  persons  like 
you.  I  have  a  boy  at  home  myself  of  just  about 
your  rating." 

"  Where  is  your  home  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  It  is  up  on  the  North  River,"  said  the  sur- 
geon, "  about  one  hundred  miles  from  New  York. 
And  now  I  must  go  away,  for  it  is  almost  eight 


A   Conversation.  101 

Dinner  time.  Children  should  not  venture  into  strange  places;. 

bells,  and  that  is  dinner  time.  I  shall  see  you 
again  by  and  by.  There's  one  thing  more,  though, 
that  I  must  tell  you  before  I  go  ;  and  that  is,  that 
you  had  better  not  go  to  any  strange  places  about 
the  ship  where  you  do  not  see  the  other  passen- 
gers go.  For  instance,  you  must  not  go  up  upon 
the  paddle  boxes." 

"  No/'  said  Rollo.  "  I  saw  a  sign  painted, 
saying  that  passengers  were  not  allowed  to  go 
up  on  the  paddle  boxes." 

"  And  you  must  not  go  forward  among  the 
sailors,  or  climb  up  upon  the  rigging,"  continued 
the  surgeon. 

"  Why  not  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Because  those  parts  of  the  ship  are  for  the 
seamen  alone,  and  for  others  like  them,  who  have 
duties  to  perform  on  shipboard.  What  should 
you  think,"  continued  the  surgeon,  "  if  some  one 
who  had  come  to  make  a  visit  at  your  house 
were  to  go  up  stairs,  looking  about  in  all  the 
chambers,  or  clown  into  the  kitchen,  examining 
every  thing  there  to  see  what  he  could  find  ?  " 

"  I  should  think  it  was  very  strange,"  said 
Jennie. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  surgeon,  "  and  it  is  the 
same  on  board  ship.  There  are  certain  parts  of 
the  ship,  such  as  the  cabins,  the  state  rooms,  and 
the  quarter  decks,  which  are  appropriated  to  the 


102  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Impropei  curiosity.     The  passenger  who  went  climbing  in  the  rigging. 

passengers  ;  and  there  are  certain  other  parts, 
such  as  the  forecastle,  the  bows,  and  the  rigging, 
which  are  the  domains  of  the  seamen.  It  is  true, 
that  sometimes  a  passenger  may  go  into  these 
places  without  impropriety,  as,  for  example,  when 
he  has  some  business  there,  or  when  he  is  special- 
ly invited  ;  just  as  there  may  be  circumstances 
which  would  render  it  proper  for  a  gentleman  to 
go  into  the  kitchen,  or  into  the  garret,  at  a  house 
where  he  is  visiting.  But  those  are  exceptions 
to  the  general  rules,  and  boys  especially,  both 
when  visiting  in  houses  and  when  they  are  pas- 
sengers on  board  ships,  should  be  very  careful  to 
keep  in  proper  places." 

"  I  am  glad  I  did  not  go  climbing  up  the  rig- 
ging," said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  surgeon.  "  Once  I  knew  a 
passenger  go  climbing  up  the  shrouds  on  board 
an  East  Indiaman,  and  when  he  had  got  half 
way  up  to  the  main  top,  and  began  to  be  afraid 
to  proceed,  the  sailors  ran  up  after  him,  and, 
under  pretence  of  helping  him,  they  -tied  him 
there,  hand  and  foot,  with  spun  yarn." 

"  Ha  !  "  said  Rollo.     "  And  what  did  he  do  ?  ■ 

"  He  begged  them  to  let  him  down,  but  they 
would  not.  They  said  it  was  customary,  when- 
ever a  landsman  came  up  into  the  rigging,  for 
him  to  pay  for  his  footing  by  a  treat  to  the  sail- 


A   Conversation. 


103 


How  the  sailors  got  a  treat 


What  would  the  captain  say  ? 


ors  :  and  that  they  would  let  him  down  if  he 
would  s:ive  them  a  dollar  for  a  treat." 


THE   PASSENGER   ON   THE   RIGGING. 

"  And  did  he  give  it  to  them,"  asked  Rollo. 

"  Yes,  he  said  he  would,"  replied  the  surgeon 
"  if  they  would  untie  one  of  his  hands,  so  that 
he  could  get  the  dollar  out  of  his  pocket.  So 
they  untied  one  of  his  hands,  and  he  gave  them 
the  dollar.  Then  they  untied  his  other  hand 
and  his  feet,  and  so  let  him  go  down." 

"  Why  did  not  he  call  the  captain  ? "  asked 
Rollo. 

"0,  the  captain  would  not  have  paid  any  at* 


104  ROLLO     ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo's  good  resolution.  Heaving  tlie  log. 

tention  to  such  a  case,"  replied  the  surgeon. 
"  If  he  had  been  on  deck  at  the  time  he  would 
have  looked  the  other  way,  and  would  have  pre- 
tended not  to  see  what  was  going  on  ;  hut  he 
would  really  have  been  pleased.  He  would  have 
considered  the  passenger  as  justly  punished  for 
climbing  about  where  he  had  no  business  to  go." 

Hollo  was  greatly  interested  in  this  narrative. 
He  thought  what  a  narrow  escape  he  had  had 
in  deciding  that  he  would  not  attempt  to  climb 
up  the  shrouds,  and  he  secretly  determined  that 
he  would  be  very  careful,  not  only  while  he  was 
on  board  the  steamer,  but  also  on  all  other  occa- 
sions, not  to  violate  the  proprieties  of  life  by 
obtruding  himself  into  places  where  he  ought 
not  to  go. 

The  surgeon  now  went  away,  leaving  Rollo 
and  Jane  on  the  settee  together. 

"  I  wish,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  I  had  asked  him 
what  he  meant  by  heaving  the  log." 

"  No,"  said  Jane,  "  you  must  not  ask  any  ques- 
tions." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Rollo,  "  I  may  ask  him  ques- 
tions. He  said  that  I  might  ask  any  questions 
that  I  pleased  of  him." 

"  Well,"  said  Jane,  "  then  you  must  ask  him 
the  nest  time  you  see  him." 

"  I  will,"  said  Rollo.     "  And  now  let  us  go 


A    CONVEKSATIOlSr.  105 

Finding  the  way  to  the  state  room.  Going  to  dinner. 

down  into  our  state  room  and  find  Maria,  and 
get  ready  to  go  to  dinner." 

"  Well,"  said  Jane,  "  only  let  me  go  first  alone. 
I  want  to  see  if  I  cannot  find  my  way  to  the 
state  room  alone." 

Eollo  acceded  to  this  proposal,  and  he  accord- 
ingly remained  on  the  settee  himself  while  Jane 
went  down.  Jane  looked  up  toward  him  when 
she  turned  to  go  down  the  steep  flight  of  stairs 
which  led  from  the  promenade  deck,  with  a  smile 
upon  her  countenance,  which  seemed  to  say,  "  You 
see  I  am  right  so  far,"  and  then,  descending  the 
steps,  —  holding  on  carefully  all  the  time  by  the 
green  rope,  —  she  soon  disappeared  from  view. 
Eollo  waited  a  proper  time,  and  then  followed 
Jane.  He  found  her  safe  upon  the  couch  in  her 
state  room,  with  Maria  seated  by  her  side. 

In  a  very  few  minutes  after  Rollo  came  into 
the  state  room  eight  bells  struck,  and  so  they  all 
went  out  to  dinner.  At  first,  Jennie  sa?d  that 
she  did  not  wish  to  go.  She  did  not  wish  for 
any  dinner.  In  fact,  Rollo  perceived,  in  looking 
at  her,  that  she  was  beginning  to  be  a  little  pale. 
Maria  told  her,  however,  that  she  had  better  go 
and  take  some  dinner. 

"  The  rule  at  sea,"  said  Maria,  "  always  is,  to 
go  to  the  table  if  you  possibly  can." 

So  they  all  went  out  into  the  dining  saloon 


106  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Tlie  vessel  rocks.  How  the  dishes  are  kept  on  the  table. 

through  the  long  and  narrow  passages  that  have 
been  already  described.  They  were  obliged  to 
put  their  hands  up  to  the  sides  of  the  passage 
ways,  first  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  to 
support  themselves,  on  account  of  the  rolling  of 
the  ship,  for  there  now  began  to  be  considera- 
ble motion.  When  they  reached  the  saloon  they 
staggered  into  their  places,  and  there  sat  rock- 
ing gently  to  and  fro  on  the  long  swell  of  the 
sea,  and  prepared  to  eat  their  dinner. 

The  dinner  was  very  much  like  a  dinner  in  a 
fine  hotel  on  land,  except  that,  as  every  thing  was 
in  motion,  it  required  some  care  to  prevent  the 
glasses  and  plates  from  sliding  about  and  spill- 
ing what  they  contained.  Besides  the  ledges 
along  the  sides  of  the  tables,  there  were  also  two 
running  up  and  down  in  the  middle  of  it,  parti- 
tioning off  the  space  where  the  various  dishes 
were  placed,  in  the  centre,  from  the  space  along 
the  sides  where  the  plates,  and  knives,  and  forks, 
and  tumblers  of  the  several  guests  were  laid. 
This  arrangement  served,  in  some  measure,  to 
keep  every  thing  in  its  place  ;  but  notwithstand- 
ing this,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  sliding  and 
jingling  among  the  glasses  whenever  an  unusual 
sea  came  rolling  along.  In  one  case,  a  tumbler, 
which  the  person  whom  it  belonged  to  had  not 
properly  secured,  came  sliding  down  toward  bim, 


A  Conversation.  107 

Upsetting  l  tumbler.  Precautions.  The  courses. 

while  his  hands  were  busy  taking  care  of  his 
soup  plate  ;  and  when  it  came  to  the  ledge  which 
formed  the  edge  of  the  table,  the  bottom  of  it 
was  stopped,  but  the  top  went  o^er,  and  poured 
all  the  water  into  the  gentleman's  lap.  Upon 
this  all  the  passengers  around  the  place  laughed 
very  heartily. 

"  There,  Rollo,"  said  Jane,  "you  had  better  bo 
careful,  and  not  let  your  tumbler  get  upset." 

"  Why,  it  is  nothing  but  water,"  replied  Rollo. 
"  It  won't  do  any  harm.  I  would  as  lief  have  a 
little  water  spilled  on  me  as  not." 

"  I  should  not  care  about  the  water  so  much," 
replied  Jennie  ;  "  but  I  would  not  as  lief  have 
every  body  laughing  at  me  as  not." 

This  was  a  very  important  distinction,  and 
Rollo  concluded  that  it  was,  after  all,  better  to 
be  careful.  He  watched  the  movements  of  the 
other  passengers  when  the  seas  came,  and  ob- 
served the  precautions  which  they  took  to  guard 
against  such  accidents,  and  by  imitating  these  he 
soon  became  quite  adroit.  The  dinner  took  a 
good  deal  of  time,  as  there  were  many  courses, 
all  served  with  great  regularity.  First,  there 
was  soup  ;  then  fish  of  various  kinds  ;  then  all 
sorts  of  roasted  meats,  such  as  beef,  mutton, 
chickens,  and  ducks,  with  a  great  variety  of 
vegetables.   Then  came  puddings,  pies,  jellies,  ice 


108 


ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 


Dinner  is  over,  and  the  party  go  back  to  the  cabin. 

creams,  and  preserves  ;  and,  finally,  a  dessert  of 
nuts,  raisins,  apples,  almonds,  and  oranges.  In 
fact,  it  was  a  very  sumptuous  .dinner,  and  what 
was  very  remarkable,  when  at  last  it  was  ended, 
and  the  party  rose  from  the  table  to  go  back  to 
the  cabin,  Jennie  said  that  she  had  a  better  ap- 
petite at  the  end  of  the  dinner  than  she  had  had 
at  the  beginning. 


Incidents.  109 


Making  acquaintance.  Pleasant  weather.  Feeling  sick. 


Chapter  VII. 

Incidents. 

By  the  time  that  Rollo  and  Jennie  had  been 
two  days  at  sea,  they  had  become  accustomed  to 
their  novel  position,  and  they  began  to  feel  quite 
at  home  on  board  the  ship.  They  formed  ac- 
quaintance with  several  of  the  passengers,  and 
they  went  to  and  fro  about  the  cabins  and  decks, 
and  visited  their  friends  in  their  state  rooms 
quite  freely,  sometimes  alone  and  sometimes  to- 
gether. The  sky  was  clear,  and  the  water  was 
comparatively  smooth.  It  is  true  that  there  was 
a  long  swell  upon  the  surface  of  the  sea,  which 
produced  a  continual,  though  gentle,  rocking  of 
the  ship,  that  made  many  of  the  passengers  sick 
and  uncomfortable.  Rollo  and  Jane,  however, 
felt  for  the  most  part  quite  well.  Sometimes,  for 
a  short  period,  one  or  the  other  of  them  looked 
pale,  and  seemed  dispirited.  At  such  times  they 
would  lie  down  upon  the  couch  in  their  state 
room,  or  upon  a  sofa  in  one  of  the  saloons,  and 
remain  quietly  there  an  hour  at  a  time     Jennie 


110  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  saloon.  Conversations.  'J'iie  mirrors. 

usually  in  such  cases  was  accustomed  to  lie  on 
the  couch  in  her  state  room,  on  account  of  the 
seclusion  of  it ;  while  Rollo,  on  the  other  hand, 
seemed  to  prefer  the  saloon.  He,  being  a  boy, 
did  not  care  so  much  about  the  seclusion.  On 
the  contrary,  it  amused  him  to  see  the  people 
going  to  and  fro,  and  to  watch  the  reflections  of 
their  forms  in  the  mirrors  about  him.  Some- 
times, also,  it  would  happen  that  there  were  two 
or  more  of  the  passengers  seated  near  him  and 
engaged  in  conversation,  that  it  entertained  him 
to  hear  ;  especially  when  it  related,  as  it  often 
did,  to  adventures  and  incidents  that  they  had 
met  with  at  sea  on  former  voyages.  It  was 
necessary,  however,  that  persons  thus  conversing 
should  be  seated  very  near,  in  order  that  Hollo 
should  hear  them  ;  for  the  ship  kept  up  a  con- 
tinual creaking  in  all  its  joints,  from  the  rolling 
of  the  sea,  which  made  it  very  difficult  to  hear 
what  was  said  across  the  cabin. 

The  mirrors,  however,  and  the  reflections  in 
them,  produced  the  most  singular  illusions,  and 
were  a  source  of  continual  interest  to  Rollo's 
mind,  as  he  lay  upon  the  sofa  surrounded  by 
them.  There  were  so  many  of  these  mirrors, 
that  the  saloon,  and  all  that  pertained  to  it,  were 
reflected  a  great  many  times,  and  thus  produced 
the  most  wonderful  effects.    Long  passages  were 


Incidents.  Ill 

Optical  illusions  Eollo's  visiti  rs. 

seen  running  off  in  all  directions,  and  cabin  be- 
yond cabin,  in  an  endless  perspective.  So  bright 
and  distinct,  too,  were  the  reflections,  that  it  was 
difficult  to  tell  whether  what  you  were  looking 
at  was  real,  or  only  an  imaged  reflection  of  it. 
Sometimes  Hollo  would  see,  apparently  at  a 
great  distance,  a  man  walking  along  among 
carved  columns  in  some  remote  passage  way, 
and  then,  in  an  instant,  the  man  would  pass  di- 
rectly by  his  sofa.  He  had  been  near  all  thn 
time,  and  it  was  only  some  third  or  fourth  reflec  ■ 
tion  of  him  that  Rollo  had  seen. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day  of  Rollo'u 
voyage,  just  before  eight  bells,  which  would  bt? 
the  time  for  dinner,  as  Rollo  was  lying  on  a  sofa 
in  the  saloon,  feeling  very  miserably,  and  ex- 
tremely disinclined  to  speak  or  to  move,  two 
young  men  came  along,  talking  in  a  loud  and 
somewhat  noisy  manner.  They  stopped  opposite 
to  him,  and  one  of  them  began  punching  Rollo 
with  the  curved  head  of  his  cane,  saying,  — 

"  Well,  Rollo,  what's  the  matter  with  you  ? 
Sick  ?  0,  get  up,  boy,  and  drive  about.  Don't 
lie  moping  here  like  a  landlubber.  Get  up,  and 
go  and  eat  some  dinner.  It  is  almost  eight 
bells." 

Rollo  wished  very  much  that  these  visitors 
would  leave  him  alone.     He  made  very  little 


112  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Maria  and  Jennie  come  to  see  Rollo. 

reply  to  them,  only  saying  that  he  did  not  wish 
for  any  dinner.  In  fact,  he  felt  sure  that,  if  he 
were  to  go  to  the  table,  he  could  not  eat  any 
thing. 

The  men,  after  laughing  at  him,  and  punch- 
ing him,  and  teasing  him  a  little  longer,  went 
away, 

A  few  minutes  after  this,  Maria  and  Jennie 
came  into  the  saloon.  They  were  ready  to  go 
to  dinner,  and  so  they  came  into  the  saloon  to 
wait  there  till  the  gong  should  sound.  When 
they  saw  Rollo  lying  upon  the  sofa,  they  went 
up  to  him,  but  did  not  speak.  Rollo  opened  his 
eyes  and  looked  at  them.  Maria  smiled,  but  still 
did  not  speak.  Rollo  smiled  in  return,  though 
somewhat  faintly,  and  then  shut  his  eyes  again. 
Then  Maria  led  Jennie  away,  gently. 

"  You  see,"  said  Maria  to  Jennie,  when  they 
had  gone  out  of  Rollo's  hearing,  "  he  feels  a  lit- 
tle sick,  and  when  persons  feel  seasick  they  do 
not  like  to  talk.  I  am  going  to  get  him  a  bowl 
of  broth." 

"  Well,"  said  Jennie,  "  let  me  go  and  ask  him 
if  he  would  like  some." 

"  No,"  said  Maria.  "  If  you  were  to  ask  him, 
he  would  say  no.  He  would  think  that  he  could 
not  eat  it  ;  and  yet,  if  I  bring  it  to  him,  without 
saying  any  thing  about  it,  when  he  tastes  it  per- 


Incidents.  113 


Maria  plans  a  lunch  for  Rollo. 


haps  lie  will  like  it.  In  fact,  when  people  are 
sick,  it  is  always  better  not  to  ask  them  too  much 
about  what  they  would  like.  It  is  better  to  con 
sidcr  what  we  think  they  would  like,  and  bring 
(t  to  them,  without  saying  any  thing  about  it  be- 
forehand." 

So  saying,  Maria  rang  the  saloon  bell.  The 
chambermaid  came  in  answer  to  the  summons. 
Maria  then  sent  the  chambermaid  to  the  dining 
saloon  to  bring  a  bowl  of  chicken  broth  to  her. 
The  chambermaid  went  out,  and  presently  re- 
turned, bringing  the  broth,  just  as  the  gong  was 
sounding  for  dinner.  Maria  carried  the  broth 
to  Rollo. 

When  she  offered  it  to  him,  Rollo  thought  at 
first  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  take  but  two 
or  three  spoonfuls  of  it,  but  on  tasting  it  he 
found  that  he  liked  it  very  much.  He  ate  it  all, 
and,  as  he  lay  down  again  upon  his  sofa,  he  said 
that  he  felt  a  great  deal  better. 

Maria  then  told  him  that  he  might  lie  still 
there  as  long  as  he  pleased  ;  adding,  that  she 
and  Jennie  were  going  to  dinner.  Maria  and 
Jennie  then  went  away,  leaving  Rollo  alone 
again. 

Rollo  felt  so  much  better  for  the  broth  that  he 
had  taken,  that  pretty  soon  he  rose  from  his  re- 
cumbent position,  and  began  to  sit  up.    Presently 

H 


114  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  on  deck.  The  invalid. 

he  said  to  himself,  "  How  much  better  I  do  feel 
I  believe  I  will  go  and  get  some  dinner." 

So  he  rose  from  the  sofa,  and  began  to  stagger 
along  toward  the  door  of  the  saloon.  He  found, 
however,  that  after  all  he  felt  somewhat  giddy 
and  light  headed ;  and  he  concluded,  therefore, 
that,  instead  of  going  to  dinner,  he  would  go  up 
on  deck  and  see  how  the  wind  was.  He 'accord- 
ingly turned  to  the  staircase  which  led  up  to 
the  main  deck,  and  steadying  himself  by  the  hand 
rail  as  he  ascended  the  steps,  he  went  up. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  was  a  passage  way, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  passage  way  there  was  a 
space  upon  the  deck,  which  was  half  enclosed  ; 
it  being  shut  in  by  an  awning  on  the  windy  side, 
and  open  on  the  other.  This  place  was  often 
resorted  to  by  passengers  who  were  sick,  and 
who  wished  for  more  fresh  air  than  they  could 
have  below.  There  was  a  row  of  settees  on  one 
side  of  this  space,  and,  at  the  time  that  Rollo 
came  up  there,  there  was  a  lady  lying  on  one  of 
these  settees,  apparently  in  a  very  forlorn  condi- 
tion. She  looked  very  pale,  and  her  eyes  were 
shut.  She  was  lying  upon  a  mattress,  which  had 
been  put  upon  the  settee  for  her,  and  was  covered 
up  with  blankets  and  shawls. 

A  gentleman,  who  seemed  to  be  her  husband, 
was  standing  before  her,  attempting  to  persuade 


Incidents.  115 


Ililbert  Rollo's  plan. 

her  to  get  up.  He  did  this,  however,  as  Eol- 
lo  thought,  in  rather  a  rough  and  heartless 
manner. 

"  0,  get  up  !  get  up  !  "  said  he.  "  You  never 
will  be  well  if  you  lie  here.  Come,  go  with  me 
and  get  some  dinner." 

The  lady  said,  in  a  mournful  tone,  that  she 
could  not  get  up,  and  that  she  had  no  appetite 
for  dinner. 

"  Well,"  said  her  husband,  "  I  am  going." 

"  I  wish  you  could  tell  me  something  about 
Hilbert,"  said  the  lady.  "  I  feel  very  anxious 
about  him.  I  am  afraid  that  he  will  get  into 
some  trouble.     He  is  so  careless." 

"  0,  no,"  said  her  husband.  "  Don't  disturb 
yourself  about  him.  He's  safe  enough  some- 
where, I  dare  say." 

So  saying,  the  gentleman  went  away. 

Rollo  immediately  conceived  the  idea  of  per- 
forming for  this  lady  the  kind  service  which 
Maria  had  so  successfully  performed  for  him. 
So,  without  speaking  to  her  at  all,  he  went  im- 
mediately down  into  the  cabin  again,  and  thence 
followed  the  long  passages  which  led  to  the  din- 
ing saloon,  until  he  came  to  the  door  of  it.  He 
looked  in,  and  saw  that  the  people  were  all  seat- 
ed at  the  table,  eating  their  dinners.  He  went 
to  one  of  the  waiters,  and  asked  him  if  he  would 


116  ROLLO    ON    THE^  ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  carrying  the  bow)  of  broth.  The  sick  lady  upon  the  settee. 

bring  him  a  bowl  of  chicken  broth,  to  carry  to 
a  lady  who  was  sick. 

The  waiter  said  that  he  would  do  so,  and  im- 
mediately went  to  get  the  broth.  When  he  came 
back  with  it,  he  said  to  Rollo,  — 

"  You  had  better  let  me  take  it  to  the  lady." 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  can  take  it  myself.  I 
know  exactly  where  she  is." 

So  Rollo  took  the  bowl,  and  began  to  carry  it 
along.  He  did  this  without  much  difficulty,  for 
it  was  not  by  any  means  full.  Bowls  of  broth 
intended  to  be  carried  about  ship  at  sea  are 
never  entirely  full. 

When,  finally,  he  came  to  the  place  where  the 
lady  was  lying  on  the  settee,  he  stood  there  a 
moment  holding  the  bowl  in  his  hand,  without 
speaking,  as  he  thought  the  lady  was  asleep  ;  for 
her  eyes  were  shut.  In  a  moment,  however,  she 
opened  her  eyes.     Rollo  then  said  to  her,  — 

"  Would  not  you  like  a  bowl  of  broth,  lady  ? 
I  have  brought  some  for  you." 

The  lady  gazed  at  Rollo  a  moment  with  a  sort 
of  bewildered  look,  and  then,  raising  herself  up 
upon  the  settee,  she  took  the  broth,  and  began  to 
eat  it  with  the  spoon.  At  first,  she  seemed  to 
take  it  cautiously  and  with  doubt ;  but  present- 
ly, finding  that  she  liked  it,  she  took  spoonful 
after  spoonful  with  evident  pleasure.    Rollo  was 


Incidents.  117 

Conversation  with  the  sick  lady.       The  boy  with  the  bow  and  arrows. 

extremely  delighted  at  the  success  of  his  experi- 
ment. The  lady  said  nothing  to  him  all  the  time, 
though  she  looked  up  at  him  repeatedly  with  a 
very  earnest  gaze  while  she  was  taking  the  broth. 
At  length  she  finished  it,  and  then  gave  Rollo 
back  the  bowl,  saying,  as  she  did  it,  — 

"  Did  my  husband  send  you  with  that  bowl  of 
broth  to  me  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  brought  it  myself." 

"  And  what  put  it  into  your  head  to  do  that  ?  " 
added  the  lady. 

"  Why,  Maria  brought  some  to  me  when  I  was 
sick,"  replied  Rollo,  "  and  it  did  me  good  ;  and 
so  I  thought  it  would  do  you  good." 

The  lady  looked  at  him  a  moment  more  with 
an  earnest  gaze,  and  then  lay  down  again,  and 
shut  her  eyes. 

Presently  she  opened  them  a  moment,  and 
said, — 

"  Do  you  know  my  son  Hilbert  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  a  boy  about  the  ship,"  said  Rollo, 
"  not  quite  so  big  as  I  am.     Is  that  he  ?  " 

"  With  a  bluejacket?"  said  the  lady. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "and  a  bow  and  arrows." 

"  That's  he,"  said  the  lady.  "  If  you  will  go 
and  find  out  where  he  is,  and  ask  him  to  come  to 
me,  you  will  do  me  a  great  deal  of  good." 

Rollo  had  seen  this  boy  several  times  in  differ* 


118  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Kollo  goes  in  search  of  Hilbert.  He  finds  him  at  dinner. 

ent  places  about  the  ship  ;  but  as  he  seemed  to  be 
rather  rude  and  boisterous  in  his  manners,  and 
very  forward  and  free  withal  in  his  intercourse 
with  the  passengers  who  chanced  tO  speak  to  him 
from  time  to  time,  Roilo  had  not  felt  much  dis- 
posed to  form  an  acquaintance  with  him.  The 
boy  had  a  bow  and  arrows,  with  which  he  had 
often  amused  himself  in  shooting  about  the  decks. 
He  did  this  with  so  little  consideration,  that  at 
last,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  ship  told  him  that 
he  must  not  shoot  any  more  in  those  parts  of  the 
ship  where  the  ladies  were,  but  that  he  must  go 
forward,  among  the  sailors,  if  he  wished  to  prac- 
tise archery.  So  the  boy  went  forward,  and 
from  that  time  he  spent  most  of  his  time  on  the 
forward  deck  among  the  sailors,  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  ropes  and  the  rigging. 

Rollo  now  went  in  pursuit  of  him,  and  after 
looking  for  him  in  many  places,  both  before  and 
aft,  he  finally  went  down  into  the  dining  saloon, 
and  there  he  found  Hilbert  seated  at  the  table, 
eating  dinner,  with  his  father.  His  bows  and 
arrows  were  on  the  seat  by  his  side. 

Rollo  went  up  to  the  place  where  Hilbert  waa 
sitting,  and  in  a  timid  and  cautious  manner  in- 
formed him  that  his  mother  wished  to  see  him. 

"  My  mother  !  "  repeated  Hilbert,  looking  up 
surprised. 


Incidents.  119 

Hilbert's  answer  to  his  mother's  message.  Disobedience. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Rollo  ;  "  she  asked  me  to  tell 
you.  But  I  suppose  that  she  can  wait  until  you 
have  fiuished  your  dinner." 

"  0,  no,"  said  Hilbert,  "  I  can't  go  at  all.  Go 
toll  her  I  can't  come." 

Rollo  was  greatly  astonished  at  receiving  such 
a  message  as  this  from  a  boy  to  his  mother. 

"  Hilbert,"  said  his  father,  in  a  very  stern  and 
threatening  manner,  '•  go  to  your  mother  direct- 

ly." 

"  No,"  said  Hilbert,  in  a  sort  of  begging  and 
whining  tone.  "No.  If  I  do,  she'll  make  me 
stay  there  all  the  afternoon." 

"  No  matter  for  that,"  said  his  father  ;  "  go 
directly." 

Hilbert  did  not  move,  but  went  on  eating  Ms 
dinner. 

"  At  least,"  said  his  father,  "you  must  go  im- 
mediately when  you  have  done  your  dinner." 

Hilbert  muttered  something  in  reply,  but  Rol- 
lo did  not  hear  what  it  was.  In  fact,  he  did  not 
wish  to  hear  any  more  of  such  a  dialogue  as  this 
between  a  child  and  his  father.  So  he  went 
away.  He  was  not  at  all  inclined  to  go  back  to 
the  lady  and  inform  her  what  Hilbert  had  said  ; 
but  he  thought  that  he  ought  at  least  to  go  and 
tell  her  that  he  had  found  Hilbert,  as  he  had 
been  taught  that  it  was  always  his  duty  to  go 


120  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hollo's  report  to  Hubert's  mother.  Concealing  the  truth. 

back  with  a  report  when  sent  on  a  message.  So 
he  went  back  to  the  lady,  and  told  her  that  he 
had  found  Hilbert,  and  that  he  was  at  dinnet 
with  his  father. 

"  And  what  did  he  say  about  coming  to  me  ?  " 
asked  the  lady. 

"  His  father  told  him  that  he  must  come  as 
soon  as  he  had  finished  his  dinner,"  replied  Rollo. 

"  Very  well,"  said  the  lady,  "  that  will  do." 

So  saying,  she  turned  her  head  away  and  shut 
her  eyes  again,  and  so  Rollo  withdrew. 

It  would  be  a  very  nice  and  delicate  point  to 
determine  whether  Rollo's  answer  in  this  case 
was  or  was  not  as  full  as  strict  honesty  required. 
He  certainly  did  not  state  any  thing  that  was 
not  true ;  nor  did  he,  in  what  he  said,  convey 
any  false  impression.  He,  however,  withheld  a 
very  important  part  of  what  the  lady  must  have 
desired  to  know-  It  is  undoubtedly  sometimes 
right  for  us  to  conceal  or  withhold  the  truth. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  it  is  our  imperious  duty  to  do 
so.  ,  Rollo's  motive  for  doing  as  he  did- in  this 
case  was  to  avoid  giving  a  sick  mother  pain,  by 
reporting  to  her  the  undutiful  conduct  of  her 
son.  "Whether  it  would  or  would  not  have  been 
better  for  him  to  have  communicated  the  whole 
truth,  is  a  point  which  must  be  left  for  the  read- 
ers of  this  took  to  discuss  and  settle  among 
themselves. 


Incidents.  121 


The  children  go  upon  deck.  The  little  'jird  from  Nova  Scotia. 

After  dinner,  Hilbert,  instead  of  going  to  his 
mother,  went  up  upon  the  deck,  leaving  his  bow 
and  arrows,  however,  down  in  the  cabin.  As 
Rollo  and  Jennie  were,  at  that  time,  seated  near 
the  after  part  of  the  promenade  deck,  he  came 
and  sat  down  near  them.  Rollo  had  a  great  de- 
sire to  get  up  and  go  away,  taking  Jennie  with 
him  ;  but  he  feared  that  it  would  be  impolite  for 
him  to  do  so  ;  and  while  he  was  considering  what 
he  should  do,  the  surgeon  came  along  that  way, 
and  said  to  them,  — 

"  Children,  have  you  seen  the  little  bird  ?  " 

"  What  bird  ?  "  exclaimed  the  children,  all  to- 
gether. 

"  Why,  there  has  a  bird  come  on  board,"  re- 
plied the  surgeon.  "  He  belongs  in  Nova  Scotia, 
I  suppose.  That  is  the  nearest  land.  He  is  for- 
ward, somewhere,  among  the  sailors." 

The  children  immediately  hurried  out  to  the 
most  forward  part  of  the  promenade  deck,  near 
the  great  smoke  pipe,  to  a  place  from  which  they 
could  look  down  upon  the  forward  deck.  There 
they  saw  the  little  bird  perched  upon  a  coil 
of  ]  igging.  He  was  perfectly  still.  Some  sail- 
ors were  standing  near,  looking  at  him.  The 
bird,  however  appeared  to  take  no  notice  of 
them. 

"Poor  little  thing!"  said  Rollo.     "I  expect 


122  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hilbert  and  Jennie  go  below.  Jennie  goes  to  shut  up  her  kitten. 

he  is  tired  flying  so  far.  I  wonder  how  far  it  is 
to  Nova  Scotia." 

Rollo  turned  round  as  he  said  this,  to  see  if 
the  surgeon  was  near,  in  order  to  ask  him  how 
far  the  poor  bird  was  from  home.  The  surgeon 
was  not  there,  but  he  saw  that  both  Jennie  and 
Hilbert  had  suddenly  started  together  to  go 
back  toward  the  stairway,  as  if  they  were  going 
below. 

"  Jennie,"  said  Rollo,  "  where  are  you  going  ?  " 

Jennie  did  not  answer,  but  hurried  on.  Hil- 
bert seemed  equally  eager.  In  fact,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  they  had  both  been  seized  with  some 
new  idea,  though  Rollo  could  not  at  first  imagine 
what  it  was.     At  length,  he  said,  — 

"  Ah !  I  know.  They  are  going  down  where 
the  bird  is,  to  see  it  nearer.     I'll  go  with  them." 

So  saying,  Rollo  hurried  away  too. 

He  was  mistaken,  however,  in  supposing  that 
Hilbert  and  Jennie  were  merely  going  to  the 
forward  deck  so  as  to  get  nearer  the  bird.  Jen- 
nie was  going  down  into  .the  cabin  -to  shut  up 
her  kitten.  The  instant  that  she  saw  the  bird 
she  was  reminded  of  Tiger,  having  sometimes 
seen  Tiger  run  after  little  birds  in  the  yards  and 
gardens  at  home.  They  could  escape  from  her 
by  flying  away,  but  this  poor  bird  seemed  so 
fcired  that  Jennie  was  afraid  the  kitten  would 


Incidents.  123 


Tiger  asleep  on  the  sofa.       What  Jennie  aaid  to  the  kitten  in  the  cage. 

catch  it  and  kill  it,  if  she  came  near  ;  and  so  she 
ran  off  very  eagerly  to  shut  the  kitten  up. 

She  found  the  kitten  asleep  on  a  sofa  in  the 
cabin.  She  immediately  seized  her,  waking  her 
up  very  suddenly  by  so  doing,  and  hurried  her 
off  at  once  to  her  cage.  Jennie  put  the  kitten 
into  the  cage,  and  then  shut  and  fastened  the 
door. 

"  There,  Tiger,"  said  she,  "  you  must  stay  in 
there.  There  is  something  up  stairs  that  you 
must  not  see." 

Then  Jennie  took  the  cage  up,  by  means  of  the 
ring  which  formed  the  handle  at  the  top,  and 
carried  it  into  her  state  room.  She  pushed  aside 
the  curtains  of  the  lower  berth,  and,  putting  the 
cage  in,  she  deposited  it  upon  a  small  shelf  in  the 
end  of  the  berth.  Then,  drawing  the  curtains 
again  very  carefully,  she  came  out  of  the  state 
room  and  shut  the  door. 

"  Now,  Tiger,"  said  she,  as  she  tried  the  door 
to  see  if  it  was  fast,  "  you  are  safe  ;  and  you 
must  stay  there  until  the  little  bird  goes  away." 

The  kitten,  when  she  found  herself  thus  left 
alone  in  such  a  seclusion,  stood  for  a  moment  on 
the  floor  of  the  cage,  looking  toward  the  cur- 
tains, in  an  attitude  of  great  astonishment ;  then, 
knowing  well,  from  past  experience,  that  it  was 
wholly  useless  for  her  to  speculate  on  the  reasons 


124 


ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 


Hilbert  has  a  very  different  plan. 


The  bow  and  arrow*. 


of  Jennie's  doings,  she  lay  down  upon  the  floor 
of  the  cage,  curled  herself  into  a  ring,  and  went 
to  sleep  again. 

As  for  Hilbert,  who  had  set  off  from  the  smoke 
pipe  deck  at  the  same  time  with  Jennie,  and  in 
an  equally  eager  manner,  his  going  below  had 
been  with  an  entirely  different  intent  from  hers. 
He  was  going  to  get  his  bow  and  arrows,  in 
order  to  shoot  the  little  bird.  He  found  them 
on  the  seat  where  he  had  left  them.  He  seized 
them  hastily,  and  ran  up  by  the  forward  gang- 
way, which  brought  him  out  upon  the  forward 
deck,  not  very  far  from  where  the  bird  was  rest- 


Incidents.  125 

What  Hargo,  the  sailor,  said  to  Hilhcrt.        An  unexpected  movement. 

ing  upon  the  coil  of  rigging.  He  crept  softly 
up  toward  him,  and  adjusted,  as  he  went,  his 
arrow  to  his  bow.  Several  of  the  sailors  were 
near,  and  one  of  them,  a  man  whom  they  called 
Hargo,  immediately  stopped  the  operation  that 
he  was  engaged  in,  and  demanded  of  Hilbert 
what  he  was  going  to  do. 

"  I  am  going  to  pop  one  of  my  arrows  into 
that  bird,"  said  Hilbert. 

"  No  such  thing,"  said  the  sailor.  "  You  pop 
an  arrow  into-  that  bird,  and  I'll  pop  you  over- 
board." 

Sailors  will  never  allow  any  one  to  molest  or 
harm  in  any  way  the  birds  that  alight  upon  their 
ships  at  sea. 

"  Overboard  !  "  repeated  Hilbert,  in  a  tone  of 
contempt  and  defiance.  "  You  would  not  dare 
to  do  such  a  thing." 

So  saying,  he  went  on  adjusting  his  arrow,  and, 
creeping  up  toward  the  bird,  began  to  take  aim. 

Hargo  here  made  a  signal  to  some  of  his  com- 
rades, who,  in  obedience  to  it,  came  up  near  him 
in  a  careless  and  apparently  undesigned  manner. 
Hargo  then,  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  move- 
ment, pulled  the  bow  and  arrow  out  of  Hilbert'a 
hand,  and  passed  them  instantly  behind  him  to 
another  sailor,  who  passed  them  to  another,  each 
standing  in  such  a  position  as  to  conceal  what 


126  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  magical  disappearance  of  Hilbert's  weapons. 

they  did  entirely  from  Hilbert's  sight.  The  thing 
was  done  so  suddenly  that  Hilbert  was  entirely 
bewildered.  His  bow  and  arrow  were  gone,  but 
he  could  not  tell  where.  Each  sailor,  the  instant 
that  he  had  passed  the  bow  and  arrow  to  the 
next,  assumed  a  careless  air,  and  went  on  with 
his  work  with  a  very  grave  and  unmeaning  face, 
as  if  he  had  not  been  taking  any  notice  of  the 
transaction.  The  last  man  who  received  the 
charge  was  very  near  the  side  of  the  ship,  and 
as  he  stood  there,  leaning  with  a  careless  air 
against  the  bulwarks,  he  slyly  dropped  the  bow 
and  arrow  overboard.  They  fell  into  the  water 
just  in  advance  of  the  paddle  wheel.  As  the 
ship  was  advancing  through  the  water  all  this 
time  with  tremendous  speed,  the  paddle  struck 
both  the  bow  and  the  arrow  the  instant  after 
they  touched  the  water,  and  broke  them  both 
into  pieces.  The  fragments  came  out  behind, 
and  floated  off  unseen  in  the  foam  which  drifted 
away  in  a  long  line  in  the  wake  of  the  steamer. 
Hilbert  was  perfectly  confounded.  He  knew 
nothing  of  the  fate  which  his  weapons  had  met 
with.  All  he  knew  was,  that  they  had  somehow 
or  other  suddenly  disappeared  as  if  by  magic. 
Hargo  had  taken  them,  he  was  sure  ;  but  what 
he  had  done  with  them,  he  could  not  imagine. 
He  was  in  a  great  rage,  and  turning  to  Hargo 


Incidents.  127 


Hilbert's  indignation  Hargo's  coolness.  Complaints. 

with  a  fierce  look,  he  demanded,  in  a  loud  and 
furious  tone,  — 

"  Give  me  back  my  bow  and  arrow." 

"  I  have  not  got  your  bow  and  arrow,"  said 
Hargo. 

So  saying,  Hargo  held  up  both  hands,  by  way 
of  proving  the  truth  of  his  assertion. 

Hilbert  gazed  at  him  for  a  moment,  utterly  at 
a  loss  what  to  do  or  say,  and  then  he  looked 
at  the  other  sailors  who  were  near,  first  at  one, 
and  then  at  another  ;  but  he  could  get  no  clew 
to  the  mystery. 

"  You  have  got  them  hid  behind  you,"  said 
Hilbert,  again  addressing  Hargo. 

"  No,"  said  he.     "  See." 

So  saying,  he  turned  round  and  let  Hilbert 
see  that  the  bow  and  arrow  were  not  behind 
him. 

"  Well,  you  took  them  away  from  me,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Hilbert ;  and  saying  this,  he  turned 
away  and  walked  off,  seemingly  very  angry.  He 
was  going  to  complain  to  his  father. 

He  met  his  father  coming  up  the  cabin  stairs, 
and  began,  as  soon  as  he  came  near  him,  to  com- 
plain in  very  bitter  and  violent  language  of  the 
treatment  that  he  had  received.  Hargo  had 
taken  away  his  bow  and  arrow,  and  would  not 
give  them  back  to  him. 


128  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Hilbert's  idea  of  mischief.       The  state  room.  Punisament. 

"  Very  well,"  replied  Iris  father,  quietly,  "  you 
had  been  doing  some  mischief  with  them,  I  sup- 
pose." 

"  No,"  said  Hilbert,  "  I  had  not  been  doing 
any  thing  at  all." 

"  Then  you  were  going  to  do  some  mischief 
with  them,  I  suppose,"  said  his  father. 

"  No,"  said  Hilbert,  "  I  was  only  going  to  shoot 
a  little  bird." 

"  A  little  bird ! "  repeated  his  father,  sir-prised. 
"What  little  bird?" 

"  Why,  a  little  bird  that  came  on  board  from 
Nova  Scotia,  they  said,"  replied  Hilbert.  "  He 
came  to  rest." 

"  And  you  were  going  to  shoot  him  ?  "  said  his 
father,  in  a  tone  of  surprise.  Then,  after  paus- 
ing a  moment,  he  added,  "Here,  come  with  me." 

So  saying,  Hilbert's  father  turned  and  walked 
down  the  cabin  stairs  again.  He  led  the  way  to 
his  state  room,  which,  as  it  happened,  was  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  cabin  from  that  which  Jen- 
nie occupied.  When  he  reached  the  door  of 
the  state  room,  he  opened  it,  and  standing  on 
one  side,  he  pointed  the  way  to  Hilbert,  saying 
Bternly,  — 

"  Go  in  there  !  " 

Hilbert  went  in. 

"You  will  stay  there,  now,"  said  his  father 


Incidents.  129 

Hilbei't  imprisoned  like  the  kitten.  Fcod  for  the  bird. 

"  as  long  as  that  bird  sees  fit  to  remain  on  board. 
It  won't  do,  I  see,  for  you  both  to  be  on  deck 
together." 

So  saying,  Hilbert's  father  shut  the  state  room 
door,  and  locked  it ;  and  then,  putting  the  key 
in  his  pocket,  went  away. 

The  bird  was  now  safe,  his  two  enemies  —  the 
only  enemies  he  had  on  board  the  steamer  — 
being  shut  up  in  their  respective  state  rooms, 
as  prisoners,  one  on  one  side  of  the  cabin,  and 
the  other  on  the  other.  He  did  not,  however, 
rest  any  the  more  quietly  on  this  account ;  for  he 
had  not  at  any  time  been  conscious  of  the  danger 
that  he  had  been  in,  either  from  the  kitten  or 
the  boy.  He  went  on  reposing  quietly  at  the 
resting-place  which  he  had  chosen  on  the  coil 
of  rigging,  until  at  last,  when  his  little. wings 
had  become  somewhat  reinvigorated,  he  came 
down  from  it,  and  went  hopping  about  the  deck. 
Jennie  and  Maria  then  went  down  below  and  got 
some  bread  for  him.  This  they  scattered  in 
cruras  before  him,  and  he  came  and  ate  it  with 
great  satisfaction.  In  about  two  hours  he  began 
to  fly  about  a  little  ;  and  finally  he  perched  upon 
the  bulwarks,  and  looked  all  over  the  sea.  Per- 
ceiving that  he  was  now  strong  enough  to  under- 
take the  passage  home  to  his  mate,  he  flew  off, 
and  ascending  high  into  the  air,  until  he  obtained 
i 


130  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Flying  home.  Resting-places.  The  prisoners  set  free. 

sight  of  the  coast,  he  then  set  forth  with  great 
speed  in  that  direction. 

It  was  several  hundred  miles  to  the  shore,  and 
he  had  to  rest  two  or  three  times  on  the  way. 
Once  he  alighted  on  an  English  ship-of-war  that 
was  going  into  Halifax  ;  the  next  time  upon  a 
small  fishing  boat  on  the  Banks.  He  was  not 
molested  at  either  of  his  resting-places  :  and  so 
in  due  time  he  safely  reached  the  shore,  and 
joined  his  mate  at  the  nest,  in  a  little  green  val- 
ley in  Nova  Scotia.  He  was  very  glad  to  get 
home.  He  had  not  intended  to  have  gone  so  far 
to  sea.  He  was  blown  off  by  a  strong  wind, 
which  came  up  suddenly  while  he  was  playing 
in  the  air,  about  five  miles  from  shore. 

The  two  prisoners  were  liberated  from  their 
state  rooms  after  having  been  kept  shut  up  about 
two  hours.  Tiger  did  not  mind  this  confinement 
at  all ;  for  her  conscience  being  quiet,  she  did 
not  trouble  herself  about  it  in  the  least,  but  slept 
nearly  the  whole  time.  It  was,  however,  quite  a 
severe  punishment  to  Hilbert ;  for  his  mind  was 
all  the  time  tormented  with  feelings  of  vexation, 
self-reproach,  and  shame. 


The  Storm.  131 


Storms  at  sea.  Their  appearance  from  a  steamer. 


Chapter  VIII. 
The   Storm. 

The  navigation  of  the  Atlantic  by  means  jf 
the  immense  sea-going  steamers  of  the  present 
day,  with  all  its  superiority  in  most  respects,  is 
attended  with  one  very  serious  disadvantage,  at 
least  for  all  romantic  people,  and  those  who  par- 
ticularly enjoy  what  is  grand  and  sublime.  To 
passengers  on  board  an  Atlantic  steamer,  a  storm 
at  sea  —  that  spectacle  which  has,  in  former  times, 
been  so  often  described  as  the  most  grand  and 
sublime  of  all  the  exhibitions  which  the  course 
of  nature  presents  to  man  —  is  divested  almost 
entirely  of  that  imposing  magnificence  for  which 
it  was  formerly  so  renowned. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this. 
V- First,  the  height  of  the  waves  appears  far  less 
impressive,  when  seen  from  on  board  an  Atlantic 
steamer,  than  from  any  ordinary  vessel ;  for  the 
deck  in  the  case  of  these  steamers  is  so  high, 
that  the  spectator,  as  it  were,  looks  down  upon 
them.     Any  one  who  has  ever  ascended  a  moun- 


132  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Height  of  waves.  Position  of  spectator. 

tain  knows  very  well  what  the  effect  is  upon  the 
apparent  height  of  all  smaller  hills,  when  they 
are  seen  from  an  elevation  that  is  far  higher 
than  they.  In  fact,  a  country  that  is  really 
quite  hilly  is  made  to  appear  almost  level,  by 
bsing  surveyed  from  any  one  summit  that  rises 
above  the  other  elevations.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  the  waves  of  the  sea,  when  seen  from 
the  promenade  deck  of  one  of  these  vast 
steamers. 

The  waves  of  the  sea  are  never  more  than 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet  high,  although  a  very  com- 
mon notion  prevails  that  they  run  very  much 
higher.  It  has  been  well  ascertained  that  they 
never  rise  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  above 
the  general  level  of  the  water ;  and  if  we  allow 
the  same  quantity  for  the  depth  of  the  trough,  or 
hollow  between  two  waves,  we  shall  have  from 
twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  as  the  utmost  altitude 
which  any  swell  of  water  can  have,  reckoning  from 
the  most  depressed  portions  of  the  surface  near  it. 
Now,  in  a  first-class  Atlantic  steamer,  there  are 
two  full  stories,  so  to  speak,  above  the  surface  of 
the  sea,  and  a  promenade  deck  above  the  upper- 
most one.  This  brings  the  head  of  the  spectator, 
when  he  stands  upon  the  promenade  dock  and 
surveys  the  ocean  around  him,  to  the  height 
of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  above  the  surface 


The   Storm.  133 


Variations  in  the  steamer's  elevation. 


of  the  water.  The  elevation  at  which  he  stands 
varies  considerably,  it  is  true,  at  different  por- 
tions of  the  voyage.  When  the  ship  first  conies 
out  of  port  she  is  very  heavily  laden,  as  she  hae 
on  board,  in  addition  to  the  cargo,  all  the  coal 
which  she  is  to  consume  during  the  whole  voyage. 
This  is  an  enormous  quantity  —  enough  for  the 
full  lading  of  what  used  to  be  considered  a  large 
ship  in  former  days.  This  coal  being  gradually 
consumed  during  the  voyage,  the  steamer  is 
lightened  ;  and  thus  she  swims  lighter  and  lighter 
as  she  proceeds,  being  four  or  five  feet  higher 
out  of  the  water  when  she  reaches  the  end  of 
her  voyage  than  she  was  at  the  beginning. 

Thus  the  height  at  which  the  passenger  stands 
above  the  waves,  when  walking  on  the  prome- 
nade deck  of  an  Atlantic  steamer,  varies  some- 
what during  the  progress  of  the  voyage  ;  but  it 
is  always,  or  almost  always,  so  great  as  to  bring 
his  head  above  the  crests  of  the  waves.  Thus 
he  looks  down,  as  it  were,  upon  the  heaviest 
seas,  and  this  greatly  diminishes  their  apparent 
magnitude  and  elevation.  On  the  contrary,  to 
one  going  to  sea  in  vessels  as  small  as  those  with 
which  Columbus  made  the  voyage  when  he  dis- 
covered America,  the  loftiest  billows  would  rise 
and  swell,  and  toss  their  foaming  crests  far  above 
nis  head,  as  he  clung  to  the  deck  to  gaze  at  them. 


134  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  s-teamer  compared  with  the  vessels  of  Columbus. 

They  would  seem  at  times  ready  to  overwhelm 
him  with  the  vast  and  towering  volumes  of  water 
which  they  raised  around  him.  Then,  when  the 
shock  which  was  produced  by  the  encounter  of 
one  of  them  was  passed,  and  the  ship,  trembling 
from  the  concussion,  rose  buoyantly  over  the 
swell,  being  small  in  comparison  with  the  vol- 
ume of  the  wave,  she  was  lifted  so  high  that  she 
seemed  to  hang  trembling  upon  the  brink  of  it, 
ready  to  plunge  to  certain  destruction  into  the 
yawning  gulf  which  opened  below. 

All  this  is,  however,  now  changed.  The  mighty 
steamer,  twice  as  long,  and  nearly  four  times  as 
massive  as  the  ship,  surpasses  the  seas  now,  as  it 
were,  in  magnitude  and  momentum,  as  well  as  in 
power.  She  not  only  triumphs  over  them  in  the 
contest  of  strength,  but  she  towers  above  and 
overtops  them  in  position.  The  billow  can  now 
no  longer  toss  her  up  so  lightly  to  the  summit 
of  its  crest ;  nor,  when  the  crest  of  it  is  passed, 
will  she  sink  her  so  fearfully  into  the  hollow  of 
the  sea.  The  spectator,  raised  above  all  appar- 
ent danger,  and  moving  forward  through  the 
scene  of  wild  commotion  with  a  power  greater 
far  than  that  which  the  foaming  surges  can 
exert,  surveys  the  scene  around  him  with  wonder 
and  admiration,  it  ia  true,  but  without  that  over- 
powering sensation  of  awe  which  it  could  once 
inspire. 


The  Storm.  135 


Danger  to  which  sailing  vessels  are  exposed. 


Then  there  is  another  thing.  A  sailing  vessel, 
which  is  always  in  a  great  measure  dependent 
upon  the  wind,  is  absolutely  at  its  mercy  in  a 
storm.  When  the  gale  increases  beyond  a  cer- 
tain limit,  she  can  no  longer  make  head  at  all 
against  its  fury,  but  must  turn  and  fly  —  or  bo 
driven  —  wherever  the  fury  of  the  tempest  may 
impel  her.  In  such  cases,  she  goes  bounding 
over  the  seas,  away  from  her  course,  toward 
rocks,  shoals,  breakers,  or  any  other  dangers 
whatever  which  may  lie  in  the  way,  without 
the  least  power  or  possibility  of  resistance.  She 
goes  howling  on,  in  such  a  case,  over  the  wide 
waste  of  waters  before  her,  wholly  unable  to 
escape  from  the  dreadful  fury  of  the  master  who 
is  driving  her,  and  with  no  hope  of  being  re- 
leased from  his  hand,  until  he  chooses,  of  his  own 
accord,  to  abate  his  rage. 

All  this,  too,  is  now  changed.  This  terrible 
master  has  now  found  his  master  in  the  sea-going 
steamer.  She  turns  not  aside  to  the  right  hand 
or  to  the  left,  for  all  his  power.  Boreas  may  send 
his  gales  from  what  quarter  he  pleases,  and  urge 
them  with  whatever  violence  he  likes  to  display. 
The  steamer  goes  steadily  on,  pointing  her  un- 
swerving prow  directly  toward  her  port  of  des- 
tination, and  triumphing  easily,  and  apparently 
without  effort,  over  all  the  fury  of  the  wind  and 


136  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Tlie  steamer's  superiority.  She  never  flies. 

the  shocks  and  concussions  of  the  waves.  The 
worst  that  the  storm  can  do  is  to  retard,  in  some 
degree,  the  swiftness  of  her  motion.  Instead  of 
driving  her,  as  it  would  have  done  a  sailing  ves- 
sel, two  or  three  hundred  miles  out  of  her  course, 
away  over  the  sea,  it  can  only  reduce  her  speed 
in  her  own  proper  and  determined  direction  to 
eight  miles  an  hour  instead  of  twelve. 

Now,  this  makes  a  great  difference  in  the  effect 
produced  upon  the  mind  by  witnessing  a  storm 
at  sea.  If  the  passenger,  as  he  surveys  the  scene, 
feels  that  his  ship,  and  all  that  it  contains,  has 
"been  seized  by  the  terrific  power  which  he  sees 
raging  around  him,  and  that  they  are  all  entirely 
at  its  mercy,  —  that  it  is  sweeping  them  away 
over  the  sea,  perhaps  into  the  jaws  of  destruction, 
without  any  possible  power,  on  their  part,  of  re- 
sistance or  escape,  —  his  mind  is  filled  with  the 
most  grand  and  solemn  emotions.  Such  a  flight 
as  this,  extending  day  after  day,  perhaps  for  five 
hundred  miles,  over  a  raging  sea,  is  really  sub- 
lime. 

The  Atlantic  steamer  never  flies.  She  never 
yields  in  any  way  to  the  fury  of  the  gale,  unless 
she  gets  disabled.  While  her  machinery  stands, 
she  moves  steadily  forward  in  her  course  ;  and  so 
far  as  any  idea  of  danger  is  concerned,  the  pas- 
sengers in  their  cabins  and  state  rooms  below 


The  Storm.  137 


Rollo  i>  awakened  by  the  rolling  of  the  steamer. 

pay  no  more  regard  to  the  storm  than  a  farmer's 
family  do  to  the  whistling  and  howling  of  the 
wind  among  the  chimneys  of  their  house,  in  a 
blustering  night  on  land. 

So  much  for  the  philosophy  of  a  storm  at  sea, 
as  witnessed  by  the  passengers  on  board  an  At- 
lantic steamer. 

One  night,  when  the  steamer  had  been  some 
time  at  sea,  Rollo  awoke,  and  found  himself  more 
than  usually  unsteady  in  his  berth.  Sometimes 
he  slept  upon  his  couch,  and  sometimes  in  his 
berth.  This  night  he  was  in  his  berth,  and  he 
found  himself  rolling  from  side  to  side  in  it,  very 
uneasily.  The  creaking  of  the  ship,  too,  seemed 
to  be  much  more  violent  and  incessant  than  it 
had  been  before.  Rollo  turned  over  upon  his 
other  side,  and  drew  up  his  knees  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  prevent  himself  from  rolling  about 
quite  so  much,  and  then  went  to  sleep  again. 

His  sleep,  however,  was  very  much  broken  and 
disturbed,  and  he  was  at  last  suddenly  awakened 
by  a  violent  lurch  of  the  ship,  which  rolled  him 
over  hard  against  the  outer  edge  of  his  berth, 
and  then  back  against  the  inner  edge  of  it  again. 
There  was  a  sort  of  cord,  with  large  knobs  upon 
it,  at  different  distances,  which  was  hung  like  a 
bell  cord  from  the  back  side  of  the  berth.     Rollo 


138        Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  cord.  Shutting  the  cupboard  door. 

had  observed  this  cord  before,  but  he  did  not 
know  what  it  was  for.  He  now,  however,  dis- 
covered what  it  was  for,  as,  by  grasping  these 
knobs  in  his  hands,  he  found  that  the  cord  was 
an  excellent  thing  for  him  to  hold  on  by  in  a 
heavy  sea.  By  means  of  \his  support,  he  found 
that  he  could  moor  himself,  as  it  were,  quite 
well,  and  keep  himself  steady  when  a  heavy  swell 
came. 

He  was  not  long,  however,  at  rest,  for  he  found 
that  his  endeavors  to  go  to  sleep  were  disturbed 
by  a  little  door  that  kept  swinging  to  and  fro, 
in  his  state  room,  as  the  ship  rolled.  This  was 
the  door  of  a  little  cupboard  under  the  wash 
stand.  When  the  door  swung  open,  it  would 
strike  against  a  board  which  formed  the  front 
side  of  the  couch  that  has  already  been  de- 
scribed. Then,  when  the  ship  rolled  the  other 
way,  it  would  come  to,  and  strike  again  upon  its 
frame  and  sill.  Rollo  endured  this  noise  as  long 
as  he  could,  and  then  he  resolved  to  get  up  and 
shut  the  door.  So  he  put  his  feet  out  of  his 
berth  upon  the  floor,  —  which  he  could  easily  do, 
as  the  berth  that  he  was  in  was  the  lower  one, — • 
and  sat  there  watching  for  a  moment  when  the 
ship  should  be  tolerably  still.  When  the  right 
moment  came,  ho  ran  across  to  the  little  door, 
ehut  it,  an  I  crowded  it  hard  into  its  place ;  then 


The  Storm. 

139 

More  difficulty. 

The  door  again. 

darted  back  to  his  berth  again,  getting  there  just 
in  time  to  save  a  tremendous  lurch  of  the  ship, 
which  would  have  perhaps  pitched  him  across 
the  state  room,  if  it  had  caught  him  when  he  was 
in  the  middle  of  the  floor. 

Rollo  did  not  have  time  to  fasten  the  little 
door  with  its  lock  ;  and  this  seemed  in  fact  un- 
necessary, for  it  shut  so  hard  and  tight  into  its 
place  that  he  was  quite  confident  that  the  friction 
would  hold  it,  and  that  it  would  not  come  open 
again.  To  his  great  surprise,  therefore,  a  few 
minutes  afterwards,  he  heard  a  thumping  sound, 
and,  on  turning  over  to  see  what  the  cause  of 
it  was,  he  found  that  the  little  door  was  loose 
again,  and  was  swinging  backward  and  forward 
as  before.  The  fact  was,  that,  although  the  door 
had  shut  in  tight  at  the  moment  when  Rollo  had 
closed  it,  the  space  into  which  it  had  been  fitted 
had  been  opened  wider  by  the  springing  of  the 
timbers  and  framework  of  the  ship  at  the  next 
roll,  and  thus  set  the  door  free  again.  So  Rollo 
had  to  get  up  once  more  ;  and  this  time  he 
locked  the  door  when  he  had  shut  it,  and  so 
made  it  secure. 

Still,  however,  he  could  not  sleep.  As  soon 
as  he  began  in  the  least  degree  to  lose  conscious- 
ness, so  as  to  relax  his  hold  upon  the  knobs  of 
his  cord,  some  heavy  lurch  of  the  sea  would 


140  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rullo  decides  to  try  the  couch. 

come,  and  roll  him  violently  from  side  to  side, 
and  thus  wake  him  up  again.  He  tried  to  brace 
himself  up  with  pillows,  but  he  had  not  pillows 
enough.  He  climbed  up  to  the  upper  berth,  and 
brought  clown  the  bolster  and  pillow  that  be- 
longed there  ;  and  thus  he  packed  and  wedged 
himself  in.  But  the  incessant  rolling  and  pitch- 
ing of  the  ship  kept  every  thing  in  such  a  state 
of  motion  that  the  pillows  soon  worked  loose 
again. 

After  making  several  ineffectual  attempts  to 
secure  for  himself  a  quiet  and  fixed  position  in 
his  berth,  Eollo  finally  concluded  to  shift  his 
quarters  to  the  other  side  of  the  state  room,  and 
try  the  couch.  The  couch  had  a  sort  of  side 
board,  which  passed  along  the  front  side  of  it, 
and  which  was  higher  somewhat  than  the  one 
forming  the  front  of  the  berth.  This  board  was 
made  movable,  so  that  it  could  be  shifted  from 
the  front  to  the  back  side,  and  vice  versa,  at 
pleasure.  By  putting  this  side  board  back,  the 
place  became  a  sort  of  sofa  or  couch,  and  it  was 
usually  in  this  state  during  the  day.;  but  by 
bringing  it  forward,  which  was  done  at  night,  it 
became  a  berth,  and  one  somewhat  larger  and 
more  comfortable  than  the  permanent  beiths  on 
the  other  side. 

So  Rollo  began  to  make  preparation  for  a 


The  Storm.  141 


The  removal.  A  new  trouble. 

removal.  He  threw  the  bolster  and  pillows 
across  first,  and  then,  getting  out  of  the  berth, 
and  holding  firmly  to  the  edge  of  it,  he  waited 
for  a  moment's  pause  in  the  motion  of  the  ship  ; 
and  then,  when  he  thought  that  the  right  time 
had  come,  he  ran  across.  It  happened,  however, 
that  he  made  a  miscalculation  as  to  the  time  ;  for 
the  ship  was  then  just  beginning  to  careen  vio- 
lently in  the  direction  in  which  he  was  going, 
and  thus  he  was  pitched  head  foremost  over  into 
the  couch,  where  he  floundered  about  several 
minutes  among  the  pillows  and  bolsters  before 
he  could  recover  the  command  of  himself. 

At  last  he  lay  down,  and  attempted  to  com- 
pose himself  to  sleep  ;  but  he  soon  experienced 
a  new  trouble.  It  happened  that  there  were 
some  cloaks  and  coats  hanging  up  upon  a  brass 
hook  above  him,  and,  as  the  ship  rolled  from  side 
to  side,  the  lower  ends  of  them  were  continually 
swinging  to  and  fro,  directly  over  Rollo's  face. 
He  tried  for  a  time  to  get  out  of  the  way  of 
them,  by  moving  h:'s  head  one  way  and  the  other  ; 
but  they  seemed  to  follow  him  wherever  he  went, 
and  so  he  was  obliged  at  last  to  climb  up  and 
take  them  all  off  the  hook,  and  throw  them 
away  into  a  corner.  Then  he  lay  down  again, 
thinking  that  he  should  now  be  able  to  rest  in 
peace. 


142  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

"  Rollo,  are  you  awake  ?  "  Tiger 

At  length,  when  he  became  finally  settled,  and 
began  to  think  at  last  that  perhaps  he  should  be 
able  to  go  to  sleep,  he  thought  that  he  heard 
something  rolling  about  in  Jennie's  state  room, 
and  also,  at  intervals,  a  mewing  sound.  He  lis- 
tened. The  door  between  the  two  state  rooms 
was  always  put  open  a  little  way  every  night, 
and  secured  so  by  the  chambermaid,  so  that 
either  of  the  children  might  call  to  the  other  if 
any  thing  were  wanted.  It  was  thus  that  Rollo 
heard  the  sound  that  came  from  Jennie's  room. 
After  listening  a  moment,  he  heard  Jennie's  voice 
3alling  to  him. 

"  Rollo,"  said  she,  "  are  you  awake  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Then  I  wish  you  would  come  and  help  my 
kitten.  Here  she  is,  shut  up  in  her  cage,  and 
rolling  in  it  all  about  the  room." 

It  was  even  so.  Jennie  had  put  Tiger  into 
the  cage  at  night  when  she  went  to  bed,  as  she 
was  accustomed  to  do,  and  then  had  set  the  cage 
in  the  corner  of  the  state  room.  The  violent 
motion  of  the  ship  had  upset  the  cage,  and  it 
was  now  rolling  about  from  one  side  of  the  state 
room  to  the  other  —  the  poor  kitten  mewing 
piteously  all  the  time,  and  wondering  what  could 
be  the  cause  of  the  astonishing  gyrations  that 
Bhe  was  undergoing.  Maria  was  asleep  all  the 
time,  and  heard  nothing  of  it  all. 


The  Stoem.  143 


Rollo  rescues  Tiger  from  her  difficulties. 


Rollo  said  he  -would  get  up  and  help  the  kit- 
ten. So  he  disengaged  himself  from  the  w edg- 
ings of  pillows  and  bolsters  in  which  he  had 
been  packed,  and,  clinging  all  the  time  to  some- 
thing for  support,  he  made  his  way  into  Jennie's 
state  room.  There  was  a  dim  light  shining  there, 
which  came  through  a  pane  of  glass  on  one  side 
of  the  state  room,  near  the  door.  This  light  was 
not  sufficient  to  enable  Rollo  to  see  any  thing 
very  distinctly.  He  however  at  length  suc- 
ceeded, by  holding  to  the  side  of  Jennie's  berth 
with  one  hand,  while  he  groped  about  the  floor 
with  the  other,  in  finding  the  cage  and  secur- 
ing it. 

"  I've  got  it,"  said  Rollo,  holding  it  up  to  the 
light.  "  It  is  the  cage,  and  Tiger  is  in  it. 
Poor  thing !  she  looks  frightened  half  to  death. 
Would  you  let  her  out  ?  " 

"  0,  no,"  said  Jennie.  "  She'll  only  be  rolled 
about  the  rooms  herself." 

"  Why,  she  could  hold  on  with  her  claws,  I 
should  think,"  said  Rollo. 

"  No,"  said  Jennie,  "  keep  her  in  the  cage,  and 
put  the  cage  in  some  safe  place  where  it  can't 
get  away." 

So  Rollo  put  the  kitten  into  the  cage,  and 
then  put  the  cage  itself  in  a  narrow  space  be- 
tween the  foot  of  the  couch  and  the  end  of  the 


144  ROLLO     ON    THE     ATLANTIC. 

An  alarm.  The  chambermaid. 

state  room,  where  lie  wedged  it  in  safely  with  a 
carpet  bag.  Having  done  this,  he  was  just  about 
returning  to  his  place,  when  he  was  dreadfully 
alarmed  at  the  sound  of  a  terrible  concussion 
upon  the  side  of  the  ship,  succeeded  by  a  noise 
as  of  something  breaking  open  in  his  state  room, 
and  a  rush  of  water  which  seemed  to  come  pour- 
ing in  there  like  a  torrent,  and  falling  on  the 
floor.  Rollo's  first  thought  was  that  the  ship 
had  sprung  a  leak,  and  that  she  was  filling  with 
water,  and  would  sink  immediately.  Jennie,  too, 
was  exceedingly  alarmed  ;  while  Maria,  who  had 
been  sound  asleep  all  this  time,  started  up  sud- 
denly in  great  terror,  calling  out,  — 

"  Mercy  on  me  !  what's  that  ?  " 

"  I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo,  "  unless 
the  ship  is  sinking." 

Maria  put  out  her  hand  and  rung  the  bell  vio- 
lently. In  the  mean  time,  the  noise  that  had  so 
alarmed  the  children  ceased,  and  nothing  was 
heard  in  Rollo's  room  but  a  sort  of  washing 
sound,  as  of  water  dashed  to  and  fro  on  the 
floor.  Of  course,  the  excessive  fears  which  the 
children  had  felt  at  first  were  in  a  great  measure 
allayed. 

In  a  moment  the  chambermaid  came  in  with 
a  light  in  her  hand,  and  asked  what  was  the 
matter. 


The  Storm.  145 


"  What  a  goose  !  "  The  window  screwed  up. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Maria.  "  Something 
or  other  lias  happened  in  Hollo's  state  room. 
Please  look  in  and  see." 

The  chambermaid  went  in,  and  exclaimed,  as 
she  entered, — 

"  What  a  goose  !  " 

"  Who's  a  goose  ? "  said  Rollo,  following 
her. 

"  I  am,"  said  the  chambermaid,  "  for  forgetting 
to  screw  up  your  light.  But  go  back  ;  you'll  get 
wet,  if  you  come  here." 

Rollo  accordingly  kept  back  in  Jennie's  state 
room,  though  he  advanced  as  near  to  the  door 
as  he  could,  and  looked  in  to  see  what  had  hap- 
pened. He  found  that  his  little  round  window 
had  been  burst  open  by  a  heavy  sea,  and  that  a 
great  quantity  of  water  had  rushed  in.  His 
couch,  which  was  directly  under  the  window,  was 
completely  drenched,  and  so  was  the  floor  ; 
though  most  of  the  water,  except  that  which  was 
retained  by  the  bedding  and  the  carpet,  had  run 
off  through  some  unseen  opening  below.  When 
Rollo  got  where  he  could  see,  the  chambermaid 
was  busy  screwing  up  his  window  tight  into  its 
place.  It  has  already  been  explained  that  this 
windov  was  formed  of  one  small  and  very  thick 
pane  of  glass,  of  an  oval  form,  and  set  in  an  iron 
frame,  which  was  attached  by  a  hinge  on  one 
J 


146  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  returns  to  his  berth.  A  stoma  coming. 

side,  and  made  to  be  secured  when  it  was  shut 
by  a  strong  screw  and  clamp  on  the  other. 

" There, ''"  said  the  chambermaid.  "It  is  safe 
now  ;  only  you  can't  sleep  upon  the  couch  any 
more,  it  is  so  wet.  You  must  get  into  your  berth 
again.  I  will  make  you  up  a  new  bed  on  the 
couch  in  the  morning." 

Rollo  accordingly  clambered  up  into  his  berth 
again,  and  the  chambermaid  left  him  to  himself. 
Presently,  however,  she  came  back  with  a  dry 
pillow  and  bolster  for  him. 

"  What  makes  the  ship  pitch  and  toss  about 
so  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Head  wind  and  a  heavy  sea,"  said  the  cham- 
bermaid ;  "  that's  all." 

The  chambermaid  then,  bidding  Rollo  go  to 
sleep,  passed  on  into  Jennie's  state  room,  on  her 
way  to  her  own  place  of  repose.  As  she  went 
by,  Maria  asked  if  there  was  not  a  storm  coming 
on. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  chambermaid,  "  a  terrible 
storm." 

"  How  long  will  it  be  before  morning  ?  "  askea 
Jennie. 

"  0,  it  is  not  two  bells  yet,"  said  the  cham- 
bermaid. "  And  you  had  better  not  get  up  when 
the  morning  comes.  You'll  only  be  knocking 
about  the  cabins  if  you  do.  I'll  bring  you  some 
breakfast  when  it  is  time." 


The  Storm.  147 


Restless  children.  The  morning  breaks. 

So  saying,  the  chambermaid  went  away,  and, 
left  the  children  and  Maria  to  themselves. 

Rollo  tried  for  a  long  time  after  this  to  get  to 
sleep,  but  all  was  in  vain.  He  heard  two  bells 
strike,  and  then  three,  and  then  four.  He  turned 
over  first  one  way,  and  then  the  other ;  his  head 
aching,  and  his  limbs  cramped  and  benumbed 
from  the  confined  and.  uncomfortable  positions  in 
which  he  was  obliged  to  keep  them.  In  fact, 
when  Jennie  on  one  occasion,  just  after  four  bells 
struck,  being  very  restless  and  wakeful  herself, 
ventured  to  speak  to  him  in  a  gentle  tone,  and 
ask  him  whether  he  was  asleep,  he  replied  that 
he  was  not ;  that  he  had  been  trying  very  hard, 
but  he  could  not  get  any  thing  of  him  asleep  ex- 
cept his  legs. 

At  length  the  gray  light  of  the  morning  be- 
gan to  shine  in  at  his  little  round  window.  This 
he  was  very  glad  to  see,  although  it  did  not 
promise  any  decided  relief  to  his  misery ;  for  the 
storm  still  continued  with  unabated .  violence. 
At  length,  when  breakfast  time  came,  the  cham- 
bermaid brought  in  some  tea  and  toast  for  Maria 
and  for  both  the  children.  They  took  it,  and 
felt  much  better  for  it  —  so  much  so,  that  Rollo 
said  he  meant  to  get  up  and  go  and  see  the 
etorm. 

"  Well,"  said  the  chambermaid,  "  you  may  go, 


148        Rollo  ox  the  Atlantic. 

Rollo  goes  aft  to  witness  the  storm. 

if  you  must.  Dress  yourself,  and  go  on  the  nest 
deck  above  this,  and  walk  along  the  passage  way 
that  leads  aft,  and  there  you'll  find  a  door  that 
you  can  open  and  look  out.  You'll  be  safe 
there." 

"  Which  way  is  aft?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  That  way,"  replied  the  chambermaid,  point- 
ing. 

So  Rollo  got  up,  and  holding  firmly  to  the 
side  of  his  berth  with  one  hand,  and  bracing 
himself  between  his  berth  and  the  side  of  his 
wash  stand  cupboard  with  his  knees,  as  the  ship 
lurched  to  and  fro,  he  contrived  to  dress  himself, 
though  he  was  a  long  time  in  accomplishing  the 
feat.  He  then  told  Jennie  that  he  was  going  up 
stairs  to  look  out  at  some  window  or  door,  in 
order  to  see  the  storm.  Jennie  did  not  make 
much  reply,  and  so  Rollo  went  away. 

The  ship  rolled  and  pitched  so  violently  that 
he  could  not  stand  alone  for  an  instant.  If  he 
attempted  to  do  so,  he  would  be  thrown  against 
one  side  or  the  other  of  the  cabin  or  passage  way 
by  the  most  sudden  and  unaccountable  impulses. 
He  finally  succeeded  in  getting  up  upon  the  main 
deck,  where  he  went  into  the  enclosed  space 
which  has  already  been  described.  This  space 
was  closely  shut  up  now  on  all  sides.  There 
Were,  however,  two  doors  whicli  led  from  it  out 


The  Storm.  149 


Uilbert.  The  lee  scuppers. 

upon  the  deck.  In  order  to  go  up  upon  the  prome- 
nade deck,  it  was  necessary  to  go  out  at  one  of 
these  doors,  and  then  ascend  the  promenade  deck 
stairway.  Hollo  had,  however,  no  intention  of 
doing  this,  though  be  thought  that  perhaps  he 
might  open  one  of  the  doors  a  little  and  look 
out. 

While  he  was  thinking  of  this,  he  heard  steps 
behind  him  as  of  some  one  coming  up  stairs,  and 
then  a  voice,  saying,  — 

"  Halloo,  Hollo  !     Are  you  up  here  ?  " 

Rollo  turned  round  and  saw  Hilbert.  He  was 
clinging  to  the  side  of  the  doorway.  Rollo 
himself  was  upon  one  of  the  settees. 

Just  then  one  of  the  outer  doors  opened,  and 
a  man  came  in.  He  was  an  officer  of  the  ship. 
A  terrible  gust  of  wind  came  in  with  him.  The 
officer  closed  the  door  again  immediately,  and 
seeing  the  boys,  he  said  to  them,  — 

"  Well,  boys,  you  are  pretty  good  sailors,  to  be 
about  the  ship  such  weather  as  this." 

"  I'm  going  up  on  the  promenade  deck,"  said 
Hilbert, 

"  No,"  said  the  officer,  "  you  had  better  do  no 
such  thing.  You  will  get  pitched  into  the  lee 
scuppers  before  you  know  where  you  are." 

"  Is  there  any  place  where  we  can  look  out 
and  see  the  sea?"  said  Rollo. 


150  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Rollo  advances  along  the  passage  way. 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  officer  ;  "  go  aft,  there,  along 
that  passage  way,  and  you  will  find  a  door  on 
the  lee  quarter  where  you  can  look  out." 

So  saying,  the  officer  went  away  down  into 
the  cabin. 

Hilbert  did  not  know  what  was  meant  by  get- 
ting pitched  into  the  lee  scuppers,  and  Eollo  did 
not  know  what  the  lee  quarter  could  be.  He 
however  determined  to  go  in  the  direction  that 
the  man  had  indicated,  and  see  if  he  could  find 
the  door. 

As  for  Hilbert,  he  said  to  Eollo  that  he  was 
not  afraid  of  the  lee  scuppers  or  any  other  scup- 
pers, and  he  was  going  up  on  the  promenade 
deck.  There  was  an  iron  railing,  he  said,  that 
he  could  cling  to  all  the  way. 

Eollo,  in  the  mean  time,  went  along  the  pas- 
sage way,  bracing  his  arms  against  the  sides  of 
it  as  he  advanced.  The  ship  was  rolling  over 
from  side  to  side  so  excessively  that  he  was  borne 
with  his  whole  weight  first  against  one  side  of 
the  passage  way,  and  then  against  the  other,  so 
heavily  that  he  was  every  moment  obliged  to 
■stop  and  wait  until  the  ship  came  up  again  be- 
fore he  could  go  on.  At  length  he  came  into  a 
small  room  with  several  doors  opening  from  it. 
In  the  back  side  of  this  room  was  the  compart- 
ment where  the  helmsman  stood  with  his  wheel. 


The  Storm.  151 


The  helmsman.  Rockets.  The  storm. 

There  were  several  men  in  this  place  with  the 
helmsman,  helping  him  to  'control  the  wheel. 
Hollo  observed,  too,  that  there  were  a  number 
of  large  rockets  put  away  in  a  sort  of  frame  in 
the  coil  overhead. 

He  went  to  one  of  the  doors  that  was  on  the 
right-hand  side  of  this  room,  and  opened  it  a 
little  wa}T ;  but  the  wind  and  rain  came  in  so 
violently  that  he  thought  he  would  go  to  the 
opposite  side  and  try  that  door.  This  idea 
proved  a  very  fortunate  one,  for,  being  now  on 
the  sheltered  side  of  the  ship,  he  could  open  the 
door  and  look  out  without  exposing  himself  to 
the  fury  of  the  storm.  He  gazed  for  a  time  at 
the  raging  fury  of  the  sea  with  a  sentiment  of 
profound  admiration  and  awe.  The  surface  of 
the  ocean  was  covered  with  foam,  and  the  waves 
were  tossing  themselves  up  in  prodigious  heaps  ; 
the  crests,  as  fast  as  they  were  formed,  being 
seized  and  hurled  away  by  the  wind  in  a  mass 
of  driving  spray,  which  went  scudding  over  the 
water  like  drifting  snow  in  a  wintry  storm  on 
land. 

After  Rollo  had  looked  upon  this  scene  until 
he  wo,s  satisfied,  he  shut  the  door,  and  returned 
along  the  passage  way,  intending  to  go  down 
and  give  Jennie  an  account  of  his  adventures. 
A.s  he  advanced  toward  the  little  compartment 


152        Hollo   on  the  Atlantic. 


Hilbert  meets  with  a  calamity. 


where  the  landing  .was,  from  the  stairs,  he  heard 
a  sound  as  of  some  one  in  distress,  and  on  draw 
ing  near  he  found  Hilbert  coming  in  perfectly 
drenched  with  sea  water.  He  was  moaning  and 
crying  bitterly,  and,  as  he  staggered  along,  the 
water  dripped  from  his  clothes  in  streams. 
Eollo  asked  him  what  was  the  matter  ;  but  he 
could  get  no  answer.  Hilbert  pressed  on  sul- 
lenly, crying  and  groaning  as  he  went  down  to 
find  his  father. 

The  matter  was,  that,  in  attempting  to  go  up 
on  the  promenade  deck,  he  had  unfortunately 
taken  the  stairway  on  the  weather  side ;  and 


The  Storm. 


The  way  in  which  ii  occurred. 


when  lie  had  got  half  way  up,  a  terrible  sea 
struck  the  ship  just  forward  of  the  paddle  box. 
A  portion  of  the  wave,  and  an  immense  mass  of 
spray,  dashed  up  on  board  the  ship,  and  a  quan- 
tity equal  to  several  barrels  of  water  came  down 
upon  the  stairs  where  Hilbert  was  ascending. 
The  poor  fellow  was  almost  strangled  by  the 
shock.  He  however  clung  manfully  to  the  rope 
"ailing,  and  as  soon  as  he  recovered  his  breath 
he  came  back  into  the  cabin. 


will 


8 


154  ROLLO    OST    THE    ATLANTIC, 


The  deck  on  a  pleasant  morning. 


Chapter    IX. 

The  Passengers'  Lottery. 

One  morning,  a  few  days  after  the  storm  de- 
scribed in  the  last  chapter,  Rollo  was  sitting  upon 
one  of  the  settees  that  stood  around  the  sky- 
light on  the  promenade  deck,  secured  to  their 
places  by  lashings  of  spun  yarn,  as  has  already 
been  described,  and  was  there  listening  to  a  con- 
versation which  was  going  on  between  two  gen- 
tlemen that  were  seated  on  the  next  settee.  The 
morning  was  very  pleasant.  The  sun  was  shin- 
ing, the  air  was  soft  and  balmy,  and  the  surface 
of  the  water  was  smooth.  There  was  so  little 
wind  that  the  sails  were  all  furled — for,  in  the 
case  of  a  steamer  at  sea,  the  wind,  even  if  it  is 
fair,  cannot  help  to  impel  the  ship  at  all,  unless 
it  moves  faster  than  the  rate  which  the  paddle 
wheels  would  of  themselves  carry  her  ;  and  if  it 
moves  slower  than  this,  of  course,  the  steamer 
would  by  her  own  progress  outstrip  it,  and  the 
sails,  if  they  were  spread,  would  only  be  pressed 
back  against  the  masts  by  the  onward  progress 


The  Passengers    Lottery.      155 

A  scene  on  board  the  steamer.  The  rockets. 

of  the  vessel,  and  thus  her  motion  would  only  be 
retarded  by  them. 

The  steamer,  on  the  day  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  was  going  on  very  smoothly  and  rap- 
idly by  the  power  of  her  engiues  alone,  and  all 
the  passengers  were  in  excellent  spirits.  There 
was  quite  a  company  of  them  assembled  at  a 
place  near  one  of  the  paddle  boxes  where  smok- 
ing was  allowed.  Some  were  seated  upon  a  set- 
tee that  was  placed  there  against  the  side  of  the 
paddle  box,  and  others  were  standing  around 
them.  They  were  nearly  all  smoking,  and,  as 
they  smoked,  they  were  talking  and  laughing 
very  merrily.  Hilbert  was  among  them,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  listening  very  eagerly  to  what  they 
were  saying.  Rollo  was  very  strongly  inclined 
to  go  out  there,  too,  to  hear  what  the  men  were 
talking  about ;  but  he  was  so  much  interested  in 
what  the  gentlemen  were  saying  who  were  near 
him,  that  he  concluded  to  wait  till  they  had  fin- 
ished their  conversation,  and  then  go. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  near  him  were  talk- 
ing about  the  rockets  —  the  same  rockets  that 
Rollo  had  seen  when  he  went  back  to  the  stern 
of  the  ship  to  look  out  at  the  sea,  on  the  day  of 
the  storm.  One  of  the  men,  who  had  often  been 
at  sea  before,  and  who  seemed  to  be  well  ac- 
quainted with  all  nautical  affairs,  said  that  the 


156  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Tlie  sling.  Use  of  the  rockets. 

rockets  were  used  to  throw  lines  from  one  ship 
to  another,  or  from  a  ship  to  the  shore,  in  case 
of  wrecks  or  storms.  He  said  that  sometimes  at 
sea  a  steamer  came  across  a  wrecked  vessel,  or 
one  that  was  disabled,  while  yet  there  were  some 
seamen  or  passengers  still  alive  on  board.  These 
men  would  generally  be  seen  clinging  to  the 
decks,  or  lashed  to  the  rigging.  In  such  cases 
the  sea  was  often  in  so  frightful  a  commotion 
that  no  boat  could  live  in  it ;  and  there  was  con- 
sequently no  way  to  get  the  unfortunate  mariners 
off  their  vessel  but  by  throwing  a  line  across, 
and  then  drawing  them  over  in  some  way  or 
other  along  the  line.  He  said  that  the  sailors 
had  a  way  of  making  a  sort  of  sling,  by  which  a 
man  could  be  suspended  under  such  a  line  with 
loops,  or  rings,  made  of  rope,  and  so  adjusted  that 
they  would  run  along  upon  it ;  and  that  by  this 
means  men  could  be  drawn  across  from  one  ship 
to  another,  at  sea,  if  there  was  only  a  line 
stretched  across  for  the  rings  to  run  upon. 

Now,  the  rockets  were  used  for  the  purpose  of 
throwing  such  a  line.  A  small  light  line  was 
attached  to  the  stick  of  the  rocket,  and  then  the 
rocket  itself  was  fired,  being  pointed  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  go  directly  over  the  wrecked  ship. 
If  it  was  aimed  correctly,  it  would  fall  down  so  as 
to  carry  the  small  line  across  the  ship.     Then  the 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.      157 

A  fearful  bridge.  Hilbert's  request. 

sailors  on  board  the  wrecked  vessel  would  seize 
it,  and  by  means  of  it  would  draw  the  end  of  a 
strong  line  over,  and  thus  effect  the  means  of 
making  their  escape.  It  was,  however,  a  very- 
dreadful  alternative,  after  all ;  for  the  rope 
forming  this  fearful  bridge  would  of  course  be 
subject  all  the  time  to  the  most  violent  jerkings, 
from  the  rolling  and  pitching  of  the  vessels  to 
which  the  two  extremities  of  it  were  attached, 
and  the  unhappy  men  who  had  to  be  draAvn  over 
by  means  of  it  would  be  perhaps  repeatedly 
struck  and  overwhelmed  by  the  foaming  surges 
on  the  way. 

While  Rollo  was  listening  to  this  conversation, 
Hilbert's  father  and  another  gentleman  who  had 
been  walking  with  him  up  and  down  the  deck 
came  and  sat  down  on  one  of  the  settees.  Very 
soon,  Hilbert,  seeing  his  father  sitting  there, 
came  eagerly  to  him,  and  said,  holding  out  his 
hand,  — 

"  Father,  I  want  you  to  give  me  half  a  sov- 
ereign." 

"  Half  a  sovereign ! "  repeated  his  father  ; 
"  what  do  you  want  of  half  a  sovereign  ?  " 

A  sovereign  is  the  common  gold  coin  of  Eng- 
land. The  value  of  it  is  a  pound,  or  nearly  five 
dollars  ;  and  half  a  sovereign  is,  of  course,  in 
value  about  ecmal  to  two  dollars  and  a  half  of 
A.Dierican  money. 


158  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

"I  want  to  get  a  ticket."  An  argument. 

"  I  want  to  get  a  ticket/'  said  Hilbert.  "  Come, 
father,  make  haste/''  he  added,  with  many  impa- 
tient looks  and  gestures,  and  still  holding  out 
his  hand. 

"  A  ticket  ?  what  ticket  ? "  asked  his  father. 
As  he  asked  these  questions,  he  put  his  hand  in 
iiis  pocket  and  drew  out  an  elegant  little  purse. 

"  Why,  they  are  going  to  have  a  lottery  about 
the  ship's  run,  to-day,"  replied  Hilbert,  "  and  I 
want  a  ticket.  The  tickets  are  half  a  sovereign 
apiece,  and  the  one  who  gets  the  right  one  will 
have  all  the  half  sovereigns.  There  will  be 
twenty  of  them,  and  that  will  make  ten  pounds." 

"  Nearly  fifty  dollars,"  said  his  father  ;  "  and 
what  can  you  do  with  all  that  money,  if  you  get 
it  ?  0,  no,  Hibby  ;  I  can't  let  you  have  any 
money  for  that.  And  besides,  these  lotteries, 
and  the  betting  about  the  run  of  the  ship,  are  as 
bad  as  gambling.     They  are  gambling,  in  fact." 

"  Why,  father,"  said  Hilbert,  "  you  bet,  very 
often." 

Mr.  Livingston,  for  that  was  his  father's  name, 
and  his  companion,  the  gentleman  who  was  sit- 
ting with  him,  laughed  at  hearing  this ;  and 
the  gentleman  said,  — 

"  Ah,  George,  he  has  you  there." 

Even  Hilbert  looked  pleased  at  the  effect 
which  his  rejoinder  had    prcduced.      In   fact, 


The  Passengers-  Lotteet.      159 

*    Hilbert  obtains  the  money.  The  reckoning. 

he  considered  his  half  sovereign  as  already 
gained. 

"  0,  let  him  have  the  half  sovereign,"  contin- 
ued the  gentleman.  "He'll  find  some  way  to 
spend  the  ten  pounds,  if  he  gets  them,  I'll  guar- 
anty." 

So  Mr.  Livingston  gave  Hilbert  the  half  sov- 
ereign, and  he,  receiving  it  with  great  delight, 
ran  away. 

The;  plan  of  the  lottery,  which  the  men  at  the 
paddle  box  were  arranging,  was  this.  In  order, 
however,  that  the  reader  may  understand  it  per- 
fectly, it  is  necessary  to  make  a  little  preliminary 
explanation  in  respect  to  the  mode  of  keeping 
what  is  called  the  reckoning  of  ships  and  steam- 
ers at  sea.  When  a  vessel  leaves  the  shore  at 
New  York,  and  loses  sight  of  the  Highlands  of 
Neversink,  which  is  the  land  that  remains  long- 
est in  view,  the  mariners  that  guide  her  have 
then  more  than  two  thousand  miles  to  go,  across 
a  stormy  and  trackless  ocean,  with  nothing  what- 
ever but  the  sun  and  stars,  and  their  own  calcu- 
lations of  their  motion,  to  guide  them.  Now, 
unless  at  the  end  of  the  voyage  they  should  come 
out  precisely  right  at  the  lighthouse  or  at  the  har- 
bor which  they  aim  at,  they  might  get  into  great 
difficulty  or  danger.  They  might  run  upon  rocka 
where  they  expected  a  port,  or  come  upon  some 


160  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 

The  difficulties  and  contrivances  of  navigation. 

strange  and  unknown  land,  and  be  entirely  una- 
ble to  determine  which  way  to  turn  in  order  to 
find  their  destined  haven. 

The  navigators  could,  however,  manage  this 
all  very  well,  provided  they  could  be  sure  of  see- 
ing the  sun  every  day  at  proper  times,  particu- 
larly at  noon.  The  sun  passes  through  different 
portions  of  the  sky  every  different  day  of  the 
year,  rising  to  a  higher  point  at  noon  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  to  a  lower  one  in  the  winter.  The 
place  of  the  sun,  too,  in  the  sky,  is  different  ac- 
cording as  the  observer  is  more  to  the  north- 
ward or  southward.  For  inasmuch  as  the  sun, 
to  the  inhabitants  of  northern  latitudes,  always 
passes  through  the  southern  part  of  the  sky,  if 
one  person  stands  at  a  place  one  hundred  or  five 
hundred  miles  to  the  southward  of  another,  the 
sun  will,  of  course,  appear  to  be  much  higher 
over  his  head  to  the  former  than  to  the  latter. 
The  farther  north,  therefore,  a  ship  is  at  sea,  the 
lower  in  the  sky,  that  is,  the  farther  down 
toward  the  south,  the  sun  will  be  at  noon. 

Navigators,  then,  at  sea,  always  go  out  upon 
the  deck  at  noon,  if  the  sun  is  out,  with  a  very 
curious  and  complicated  instrument,  called  a  sex- 
tant, in  their  hands  ;  and  with  this  instrument 
they  measure  exactly  the  distance  from  the  sun 
at  noon  down  to  the  southern  horizon.     This  is 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.     161 

Making  an  observation.  Latitude  and  longiturie. 

called  making  an  observation.  When  the  obser- 
vation is  made,  the  captain  takes  the  number  of 
degrees  and  minutes,  and  goes  into  his  state 
room  ;  and  there,  by  the  help  of  certain  tables 
contained  in  books  which  he  always  keeps  there 
for  the  purpose,  he  makes  a  calculation,  and  finds 
out  the  exact  latitude  of  the  ship ;  that  is, 
where  she  is,  in  respect  to  north  and  south. 
There  are  other  observations  and  calculations 
by  which  he  determines  the  longitude ;  that  is, 
where  the  ship  is  in  respect  to  east  and  west. 
When  both  these  are  determined,  he  can  find  the 
precise  place  on  the  chart  where  the  vessel  is, 
and  so  —  inasmuch  as  he  had  ascertained  by  the 
same  means  where  she  was  the  day  before  —  lie  can 
easily  calculate  how  far  she  has  come  during  the 
twenty-four  hours  between  one  noon  and  another. 
These  calculations  are  always  made  at  noon,  be- 
cause that  is  the  time  for  making  the  observa- 
tions on  the  sun.  It  takes  about  an  hour  to 
make  the  calculations.  The  passengers  on  board 
the  ship  during  this  interval  are  generally  full  of 
interest  and  curiosity  to  know  the  result.  They 
come  out  from  their  lunch  at  half  past  twelve, 
and  then  they  wait  the  remaining  half  hour  with 
great  impatience.  They  are  eager  to  know  how 
far  they  have  advanced  on  their  voyage  since 
noon  of  the  day  before. 
K 


162  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


In  order  to  let  the  passengers  know  the  result, 
■when  it  is  determined,  the  captain  puts  up  a 
written  notice,  thus  :  — 

Latitude,  44°  26'. 
Longitude,  16°  31'. 
Distance,  270. 

The  passengers,  on  seeing  this  notice,  which  is 
called  a  bulletin,  know  at  once,  from  the  first  two 
items,  whereabouts  on  the  ocean  they  are ;  and 
from  the  last  they  learn  that  the  distance  which 
the  ship  has  come  since  the  day  before  is  270 
miles. 

This  plan  of  finding  out  the  ship's  place  every 
day,  and  of  ascertaining  the  distance  which  she 
has  sailed  since  the  day  before,  would  be  per- 
fectly successful,  and  amply  sufficient  for  all  the 
purposes  required,  if  the  sun  could  always  be 
seen  when  the  hour  arrived  for  making  the  ob- 
servation ;  but  this  is  not  the  fact.  The  sky  is 
often  obscured  by  clouds  for  many  days  in  suc- 
cession ;  and,  in  fact,  it  sometimes  happens  that 
the  captain  has  scarcely  an  opportunity  "to  get 
a  good  observation  during  the  whole  voyage. 
There  is,  therefore,  another  way  by  which  the 
navigator  can  determine  where  the  ship  is,  and 
how  fast  she  gets  along  on  her  voyage. 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.      lt>3 

The  log.  Account  of  the  mode  of  "  heaving  the  log." 

This  second  method  consists  of  actually  meas- 
uring the  progress  of  the  ship  through  the 
water,  by  an  instrument  called  the  log  and  line. 
The  log  —  which,  however,  is  not  any  log  at  all, 
but  only  a  small  piece  of  board,  loaded  at  one 
edge  so  as  to  float  upright  in  the  water  —  has 
a  long  line  attached  to  it,  which  line  is  wound 
upon  a  light  windlass  called  a  reel.  The  line, 
except  a  small  portion  of  it  at  the  beginning 
is  marked  off  into  lengths  by  small  knots  made 
in  it  at  regular  intervals.  There  are  little 
rags  of  different  forms  and  colors  tied  into  these 
knots,  so  that  they  may  easily  be  seen,  and  may 
also  be  distinguished  one  from  the  other. 

When  the  time  comes  for  performing  the  oper- 
ation of  heaving  the  log,  as  they  call  it,  the  men 
appointed  for  the  purpose  bring  the  log  and  the 
reel  to  the  stern  of  the  ship.  One  man  holds  the 
log,  and  another  man  the  reel.  There  are  two 
handles,  one  at  each  end  of  the  reel,  by  which 
the  man  who  serves  it  can  hold  it  up  over  his 
head,  and  let  the  line  run  off  from  it.  Besides  the 
two  men  who  hold  the  log  and  the  reel,  there  is 
a  third,  who  has  a  minute  glass  in  his  hand.  The 
minute  glass  is  like  an  hour  glass,  only  there  is 
but  just  sand  enough  in  it  to  run  a  minute.  The 
man  who  has  the  minute  glass  holds  it  upon  its 
side  at  first,  so  as  not  to  set  the  sand  to  running 
until  all  is  ready. 


164  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC , 


Tlie  account  continued. 


Turn!-' 


HEAVING   THE   LOG. 


At  length  the  man  who  holds  the  log  throws 
it  over  into  the  water,  and  the  ship,  sailing  on- 
ward all  the  time,  leaves  it  there,  floating  edge- 
upwards.  The  man  who  holds  the  reel  lifts  it 
up  high,  so  that  the  line  can  run  off  easily  as 
the  ship  moves  on.  As  soon  as  the  first  rag  runs 
off,  which  denotes  the  beginning  of  the  marked 
Doint  of  the  line,  he  calls  out  suddenly, — 

"  Turn ! " 

This  is  the  command  to  the  man  who  holds  the 


TnE  Passsengees'  Lottery.     165 

"  Stop !  "  How  the  line  is  drawn  in. 

minute  glass  to  turn  it  so  as  to  sot  the  sand  to 
running.  He  accordingly  instantly  changes  the 
position  of  the  glass,  and  holds  it  perpendicular- 
ly, and  immediately  sets  himself  to  watching  the 
running  out  of  the  sand.  The  instant  it  is  gone, 
he  calls  out,  — 

"  Stop !  » 

The  man  who  is  holding  the  reel,  and  another 
who  stands  by  ready  to  help  him,  instantly  stop  the 
line,  and  begin  to  draw  it  in.  They  observe  how 
many  knots  have  run  out,  and  they  know  from 
this  how  many  miles  an  hour  the  ship  is  going. 
Each  knot  goes  for  a  mile. 

They  do  not  have  to  count  the  knots  that  have 
run  out.  The}'  can  always  determine,  by  the 
form  and  color  of  the  last  one  that  passed,  what 
knot  it  is.  One  of  the  men  goes  immediately 
and  reports  to  the  captain  that  the  ship  is  going 
so  many  knots,  and  the  captain  makes  a  record 
of  it.  The  other  men  at  once  begin  to  draw  in 
the  line,  which  brings  the  log  in  also  at  the  end 
of  it.  This  line  comes  in  very  hard,  for  the 
friction  of  so  long  a  cord,  dragged  so  swiftly 
through  the  water,  is  very  great.  It  generally 
takes  four  or  five  men  to  pull  the  line  in.  These* 
men  walk  along  the  deck,  one  behind  the  other, 
with  the  line  over  their  shoulders  ;  and  at  first 
they  have  to  tug  very  hard.    The  reel  man  winds 


166  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  ship's  position  determined  by  the  reckoning. 

the  line  upon  the  reel  as  fast  as  they  draw  it  in. 
It  comes  in  more  and  more  easily  as  the  part 
that  is  in  the  water  grows  shorter  ;  and  at  length 
the  log  itself  is  soon  skipping  through  the  foam 
in  the  wake  of  the  ship,  until  it  comes  up  out  of 
the  water  and  is  taken  on  board. 

They  heave  the  log  every  two  hours,  —  that  is, 
twelve  times  for  every  twenty-four  hours,  —  and 
from  the  reports  which  the  captain  receives  of 
the  results  of  these  trials,  it  is  easy  for  him  to 
calculate  how  far  the  ship  has  come  during  the 
whole  period.  As  he  knows,  too,  exactly  how 
far  the  pilot  has  been  steering  by  the  compass 
all  this  time,  he  has  both  the  direction  in  which 
the  ship  has  been  sailing,  and  the  distance  to 
which  she  has  come  ;  and,  of  course,  from  these 
data  he  can  calculate  where  she  must  now  be. 
This  mode  of  determining  the  ship's  place  is 
called  by  the  reckoning.  The  other  is  called  by 
observation. 

The  intelligent  and  -reflecting  boy  who  has 
carefully  read  and  understood  the  preceding  ex- 
planations will  perceive  that  the  two  operations 
which  we  have  been  describing  are  in  some  sense 
the  reverse  of  each  other.  By  the  former,  the 
navigator  ascertains  by  his  measurements  where 
the  ship  actually  is  to-day,  and  then  calculates 
from  that  how  far,  and  in  what  direction,  sho 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.      167 

The  observation  and  the  reckoning  compared. 

has  come  since  yesterday.  Whereas,  by  the  lat- 
ter method,  his  measurements  determine  directly 
how  far,  and  in  what  direction,  the  ship  has 
come  ;  and  then  he  calculates  from  these  where 
she  now  is.  Each  method  has  its  advantages. 
The  former,  that  by  observation,  is  the  most 
sure  and  exact ;  but  then  it  is  not  always  practi- 
cable, for  it  may  be  cloudy.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  latter  —  that  is,  by  the  reckoning  —  never  fails, 
for  the  log  can  always  be  thrown,  be  the  weather 
what  it  may  ;  but  it  cannot  be  fully  relied  upon, 
on  account  of  the  currents  in  the  water  and  the 
drifting  of  the  vessel.  Consequently,  on  board 
all  ships  they  keep  the  reckoning  regularly 
every  day.  Then,  if  they  get  a  good  observa- 
tion, they  rely  upon  that.  If  they  do  not,  they 
go  by  the  reckoning. 

We  now  return  to  the  story.  And  here,  I 
suppose,  is  the  place  where  those  sagacious  chil- 
dren, who,  when  they  are  reading  a  book  in  which 
entertainment  and  instruction  are  combined, 
always  skip  all  the  instruction,  and  read  only  the 
story,  will  begin  to  read  again,  after  having 
turned  over  the  leaves  of  this  chapter  thus  far, 
seeing  they  contain  only  explanations  of  the 
mode  of  navigating  a  ship,  and  saying  nothing 
about  Hilbert  and  Rollo.  Now,  before  going 
any  farther,  I  wish  to  warn  all  such  readers,  that 


1(58        Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

Advice  to  readers.  T  le  story  resumed. 

they  will  not  bo  able  to  comprehend  at  all  clear* 
ly  the  complicated  difficulties  which  Hilbert  and 
the  others  got  into  in  respect  to  the  lottery 
without  understanding  all  that  has  been  ex- 
plained in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  chapter. 
I  advise  them,  therefore,  if  they  have  skipped 
any  of  it,  to  go  back  and  read  it  all,  and  to  read 
it  slowly  too,  and  with  the  utmost  attention. 
And  I  advise  them,  moreover,  if  they  do  not  per- 
fectly understand  it  all,  to  ask  some  older  person 
to  read  it  over  with  them  and  explain  it  to  them. 
If  they  are  not  willing  to  do  this,  but  insist  on 
skipping  the  first  part  of  the  chapter,  I  advise 
them  to  make  complete  work  of  it,  and  skip  the 
last  half  too  ;  for  they  certainly  will  not  under- 
stand it. 

When  Hilbert  went  back  to  the  paddle  box 
with  his  half  sovereign,  it  was  about  eleven 
o'clock.  The  observation  was  to  be  made  at 
twelve ;  and  the  results,  both  in  respect  to  the 
observation  and  the  reckoning,  were  to  be  calcu- 
lated immediately  afterward.  The  lottery  which 
the  men  were  making  related  to  the  number  of 
miles  which  the  ship  would  have  made  during 
the  twenty -four  hours.  The  men  were  just  mak- 
ing up  the  list  of  subscribers  to  the  tickets  when 
Hilbert  went  up  to  them.  He  gave  his  half  sov« 
ereign  to  the  man  who  had  the  list.     This  mn, 


The   Passengers'  Lottery.      169 

"  Bubby  Livingst  )n."  Tlie  plan  of  the  lottery. 

whom  they  called  the  Colonel,  took  the  money, 
saying,  "  That's  right,  my  lad,"  and  put  it  in  a  lit- 
tle leather  parse  with  the  other  half  sovereigns. 

"  What's  your  name,  Bob  ? ;;  said  he. 

"Livingston,"  said  Hilbert. 

"  Bobby  Livingston,"  said  the  Colonel,  writing 
down  the  name  on  his  list. 

"No,"  said  Hilbert,  contemptuously,  "not  Bob- 
by Livingston.     Hilbert  Livingston." 

"0,  never  mind,"  said  the  Colonel;  "it's  all 
the  same  thing.     Bobby  means  boy." 

The  plan  of  the  lottery  was  this  :  It  was  gen- 
erally supposed  that  the  ship's  run  would  be 
about  270  miles  ;  and  it  was  considered  quite 
certain,  as  has  already  been  stated,  that  it  would 
not  be  more  than  2S0,  nor  less  than  260.  So 
they  made  twenty  tickets,  by  cutting  five  of  the 
Colonel's  visiting  cards  into  quarters,  which 
tickets  were  to  represent  all  the  numbers  from 
261  to  280,  inclusive.  They  wrote  the  numbers 
upon  these  cards,  omitting,  however,  the  first 
figure,  namely,  the  2,  in  order  to  save  time ;  for 
as  that  figure  came  in  all  the  numbers,  it  wa3 
considered  unnecessary  to  write  it.  When  the 
numbers  were  written  thus  upon  the  cards,  the 
cards  themselves  were  all  put  into  a  cap*  and 

*  Gentlemen  always  wear  caps  on  board,  ship.  Hats  are  in  the 
way,  and  would,  moreo  rer,  be  in  danger  of  being  blown  off  by  tha 


170  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  drawing.  Hilbert's  ticket. 

shaken  up,  and  then  every  one  who  had  paid  a 
half  sovereign  drew  out  one,  the  colonel  holding 
the  hat  up  high  all  the  time,  so  that  no  one  could 
see  which  number  he  drew.  This  operation  was 
performed  in  the  midst  of  jokes  and  gibes  and 
loud  shouts  of  laughter,  which  made  the  whole 
scene  a  very  merry  one.  When  Hilbert  came 
to  draw,  the  merriment  was  redoubled.  Some 
called  on  the  Colonel  to  hold  down  the  cap 
lower,  so  that  Bob  could  reach  it.  Others  said 
that  he  was  sure  to  get  the  lucky  number,  and 
that  there  was  no  chance  at  all  for  the  rest  of 
them.  Others,  still,  were  asking  him  what  he 
would  take  for  his  ticket,  or  for  half  of  it,  quar- 
ter of  it,  and  so  on.  Hilbert  was  half  pleased 
and  half  ashamed  at  being  the  object  of  so  much 
coarse  notoriety  ;  while  Rollo,  who  had  drawn 
up  toward  the  place,  and  was  looking  on  from  a 
safe  distance  at  the  proceedings  that  were  going 
on,  was  very  glad  that  he  was  not  in  Hilbert's 
place. 

The  ticket  that  Hilbert  drew  was  marked  67. 
It  denoted,  of  course,  the  number  267  ;  and  that, 
being  pretty  near  to  the  number  of  miles  which 
it  was  thought  the  ship  would  probably  make, 
was  considered  quite   a  valuable   ticket.     The 

wind  ;  in  which  case,  as  they  would  go  overboard  at  once,  there 
would  be  no  possibility  of  recovering  them. 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.      171 

Belting  and  bargaining.  Hubert's  calculations. 

owners  of  the  several  tickets,  as  soon  as  the 
drawing  was  completed,  began  to  compare  them 
and  talk  about  them,  and  to  propose  bargains  to 
one  another  for  buying  and  selling  them,  or  ex- 
changing them.  In  these  negotiations  each  man 
was  endeavoring  to  outwit  and  circumvent  his 
friend,  in  hopes  of  buying  his  ticket  for  a  mod- 
erate sum,  and  drawing  the  whole  prize  with  it. 
Others  were  engaged  in  betting  on  particular 
tickets.  These  bets,  when  they  were  made,  they 
recorded  in  little  memorandum  books  kept  for 
the  purpose.  In  fact,  a  very  noisy  and  tumultu- 
ous scene  of  bargaining,  and  betting,  and  barter 
ensued. 

Hilbert  was  very  much  pleased  with  his  ticket. 
He  went  to  show  it  to  Rollo.  He  said  he  verily 
believed  that  he  had  got  the  exact  ticket  to 
draw  the  prize.  He  did  not  think  the  ship 
would  go  quite  270  miles. 

"  And  if  she  does  not,"  said  he,  "  and  should 
happen  to  go  only  267  miles,  then  I  shall  have 
ten  pounds  ;  and  that  is  almost  fifty  dollars." 

So  saying,  Hilbert  began  to  caper  about  the 
deck  in  the  exuberance  of  his  joy. 

His  antics  were,  however,  suddenly  interrupted 
by  the  Colonel;  who  just  then  came  up  to  him 
ai.d  asked  to  see  his  ticket.  Hilbert  held  it  up 
bo  that  the  Colonel  could  see  the  number  upon  it. 


172  ROLLO    ON    THE     ATLANTIC. 

The  Colonel's  offer.  Hilbert  refuses  it. 

"  Sixty-seven,"  said  the  Colonel.  "  That  is  not 
worth  much.  Nobody  thinks  she'll  go  less  than 
270.  However,"  he  added,  in  a  careless  tone, 
"  I'll  give  you  twelve  shillings  for  it.  That  is  two 
shillings  over  what  you  paid  for  it  —  nearly  half 
a  dollar.*  You'd  better  make  sure  of  half  a 
dollar  than  run  the  risk  of  losing  every  thing  on 
such  a  poor  ticket  as  that." 

"  Would  you  ? "  said  Hilbert,  turning  to 
Rollo. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Rollo,  shaking  his 
head.     "I  don't  know  any  thing  about  it." 

"  No,"  said  Hilbert,  turning  to  the  Colonel 
again  ;  "  I  believe  I  will  keep  my  ticket,  and  take 
my  chance." 

The  Colonel  said,  "Very  well;  just  as  you 
please  ; "  and  then  went  away.  Hilbert  had,  after 
this,,  several  other  offers,  all  which  he  declined  ; 
and  in  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  Colonel 
met  him  again,  as  if  accidentally,  and  began  to 
talk  about  his  ticket.  He  said  that  all  the  tick- 
ets under  27C  were  selling  at  a  low  price,  as 
almost  every  body  believed  that  the  ship's  run 
would  be  more  than  that  ;  but  still,  he  said,  he 
would  give  a  pound  for  Hilbert's  ticket,  if  he 
wished  to  sell  it.  "  Thus,"  said  he,  "  you'll  get  back 


*  The  Colonel  meant  English  shillings,  which  are  twenty-  foul 
cents  each  in  value. 


The  Passengers    Lottery.      173 

The  moral  character  of  lotteries. 

the  half  sovereign  you  paid,  and  another  half 
sovereign  besides,  and  make  sure  of  it." 

But  the  more  the  people  seemed  to  wish  to 
buy  Hilbert's  ticket,  the  less  inclined  he  was  to 
part  with  it.  So  he  refused  the  Colonel's  offer, 
and  put  the  card  safely  away  in  his  wallet.  In 
one  sense  he  was  right  in  refusing  to  sell  his 
chance  ;  for  as  the  whole  business  of  making 
such  a  lottery,  and  buying  and  selling  the  tickets 
afterward,  and  betting  on  the  result,  is  wrong, 
the  less  one  does  about  it  the  better.  Every  new 
transaction  arising  out  of  it  is  a  new  sin.  It 
could  easily  be  shown,  by  reasoning  on  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  thing,  why  it  is  wrong,  if  there 
were  time  and  space  for  it  here.  But  this  is  not 
necessary,  as  every  man  has  a  feeling  in  his  own 
conscience  that  there  is  a  wrong  in  such  transac- 
tions. It  is  only  bad  characters,  in  general,  that 
seek  such  amusements.  When  others  adventure 
in  them  a  little,  they  make  apologies  for  it.  They 
say  they  are  not  in  the  habit  of  betting,  or  of 
venturing  in  lotteries,  or  that  they  don't  approve 
of  it  —  but  will  do  it  this  once.  Then,  when 
people  lose  their  money,  the  chagrin  which  they 
feel  is  always  deepened  and  imbittered  by  re- 
morse and  self-condemnation  ;  while  the  pleasure 
which  those  feel  who  gain  is  greatly  marred  by 
a  sort  of  guilty  feeling,  which  they  cannot  shake 


174  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

How  Mr.  Chauncy  came  to  buy  a  ticket. 

off,  at  having  taken  the  money  of  their  friends 
and  companions  by  such  means.  All  these  indi- 
cations, and  many  others  which  might  be  pointed 
out,  show  that  there  is  a  deep-seated  and  perma- 
nent instinct  in  the  human  heart  which  condemns 
such  things ;  and  nobody  can  engage  in  them 
without  doing  violence  to  this  instinct,  and  thus 
committing  a  known  wrong. 

In  regard  to  most  of  the  men  who  were  en- 
gaged in  the  lottery,  they  had  so  often  done  such 
things  before  that  their  consciences  had  become 
pretty  well  seared  and  hardened.  There  was 
one  man,  however,  who  decided  to  take  a  ticket 
against  considerable  opposition  that  was  made 
to  it  by  the  moral  sentiments  of  his  heart.  This 
was  Maria's  brother.  He  had  been  confined  to 
his  berth  most  of  the  voyage,  but  was  now  bet- 
ter ;  and  he  had  been  walking  up  and  down  the 
deck  with  a  friend.  He  looked  pale  and  de- 
jected, however,  and  seemed  still  quite  feeble. 

His  friend,  whom  he  called  Charles,  seeing 
that  they  were  going  on  with  a  lottery  near  the 
paddle  boxes,  proposed  that  they  should  both  go 
and  buy  tickets. 

"  Come,"  said  he,  "  Chauncy,  that  will  amuso 
you." 

"  0,  no,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

"  Yes,   come,"   said    Charles.      "  Besides,   we 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.     175 

Mr.  Chauncy  and  Hilbert  compare  numbers. 

ought  to  do  our  part  to  assist  in  entertaining  one 
another." 

So  saying,  Charles  led  Mr.  Chauncy  along, 
and  partly  by  persuasion,  and  partly  by  a  little 
gentle  force,  he  made  him  take  out  his  purse  and 
produce  a  half  sovereign,  too.  He  also  sub- 
scribed himself,  and  then  drew  both  the  tickets. 
He  gave  one  of  them  to  Mr.  Chauncy,  and  the 
other  he  kept  himself;  and  then  the  two  friends 
walked  away.  Mr.  Chauncy's  ticket  was  66,  the 
number  immediately  below  that  which  Hilbert 
had  drawn. 

Mr.  Chauncy,  being  now  tired  of  walking, 
went  to  sit  down  upon  one  of  the  settees  next  to 
where  Hilbert  and  Rollo  had  just  gone  to  take 
a  seat.  Mr.  Chauncy  was  next  to  Hilbert.  He 
immediately  began  to  talk  with  Hilbert  about 
the  lottery. 

"  Have  you  got  a  ticket  in  this  lottery?"  he 
asked. 

"  Yes,"  said  Hilbert  ;  "  mine  is  267.  What  is 
yours'?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy  ;  "  I  did  not 
observe."  As  he  said  this,  however,  he  took  his 
ticket  out  of  his  pocket,  and  said,  reading  it, 
"  Ninety-nine." 

He  was  holding  it  wrong  side  upward,  and  so 
it  read  99. 


176  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

■ — 5 

"  I  should  be  afraid  I  might  get  the  prize." 

"  ITo !  "  said  Hilbert,  "  that  will  not  get  the 
prize.  We  shall  not  go  299  miles.  I  would  not 
exchange  mine  for  yours  on  any  account." 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  "nor  would  I  ex 
change  mine  for  yours." 

"  Why?  "  said  Hilbert.  "  Do  you  think  there 
is  any  chance  of  the  ship's  making  299  ?  " 

"  No,"  replied  Mr.  Chauncy  ;  "  and  that  is  the 
very  reason  I  like  my  ticket.  If  I  had  yours,  I 
should  be  afraid  I  might  get  the  prize." 

"  Afraid  ?  "  repeated  Hilbert. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

"  Why  should  you  be  afraid  ?  "  asked  Hilbert, 
much  surprised. 

"  Because,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  "  I  should  not 
know  what  to  do  with  the  money.  I  would  not 
put  it  in  my  purse  ;  for  I  don't  let  any  thing  go 
in  there  but  honest  money.  I  don't  know  who 
I  could  give  it  to.  Besides,  I  should  not  like  to 
ask  any  body  to  take  what  I  should  be  ashamed 
to  keep  myself.  I  should  really  be  in  a  very 
awkward  situation." 

As  he  said  this,  Mr.  Chauncy  held  his  ticket 
between  his  thumb  and  finger,  and  looked  at  the 
number.  Neither  he  nor  Hilbert  suspected  for 
a  moment  that  there  was  any  mistake  iu  reading 
it ;  for,  not  having  paid  any  attention  to  the 
scheme,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  lottery,  they  did  not 
know  how  high  the  numbers  went. 


The  Passengers'  Lottery.      177 

Mr.  Chauncy  gives  his  ticket  away. 

"  There  is  a  possibility  that  I  may  get  it.  after 
all,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy  at  length,  musing.  "  We 
have  had  fine  weather,  and  have  been  coming  opt 
fast.  The  best  thing  for  me  to  do  is  to  get  rid 
of  the  ticket.  Have  you  got  a  ticket,  Rollo  ?  " 
eaid  he,  turning  to  Rollo. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"I  have  a  great  mind  to  give  it  to  you,  then." 

"No,  sir,"  said  Rollo;  "I  would  rather  not 
have  it." 

"  That  is  right,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy.  "  I  like 
you  the  better  for  that.  I  know  what  I  will  do 
with  it.  Do  you  remember  an  Irishwoman  that 
you  see  sitting  on  the  forward  deck  sometimes 
with  her  two  children  ?  " 

."  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  she  is  there  now." 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy  ;  "  carry  this  to 
her,  and  tell  her  it  is  a  ticket  in  a  lottery,  and  it 
may  possibly  draw  a  prize.  Have  you  any  con- 
scientious scruples  about  doing  that?" 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Then  take  the  ticket  and  go,"  added  Mr. 
Chauncy.  "Tell  her  she  had  better  sell  the 
ticket  for  two  shillings,  if  she  gets  a  chance. 
There  may  be  somebody  among  the  gamblers 
that  will  buy  it." 

So  Rollo  took  the  ticket  and  carried  it  to  the 
Irishwoman.      She  was  a  woman  who  was  re- 

L 


178  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


The  Irishwoman. 


No.  99  for  aale. 


turning  to  Ireland  as  a  deck  passenger.  She 
was  quite  poor.  When  Rollo  tendered  her  the 
ticket,  she  was,  at  first,  much  surprised.  Rollo 
explained  the  case  fully  to  her,  and  concluded 
by  repeating  Mr.  Chauncy 's  advice  —  that  she 
should  sell  the  ticket,  if  she  could  get  a  chance 
to  sell  it  for  as  much  as  two  shillings.  The 
woman,  having  been  at  sea  before,  understood 
something  about  such  lotteries,  and  seemed  to  be 
quite  pleased  to  get  a  ticket.  She  asked  Rollo 
to  tell  such  gentlemen  as  he  might  meet  that  she 
had  99  to  sell  for  two  shillings.  This,  however, 
Rollo  did  not  like  to  do  ;  and  so  he  simply  re- 
turned to  the  settee  and  reported  to  Mr.  Chauncy 
that  he  had  given  the  woman  the  ticket  and  de- 
livered the  message. 

Mr.  Chauncy  said  he  was  very  much  obliged 
to  him  ;  and  then,  rising  from  his  seat,  he  walked 
slowly  away,  and  descended  into  the  cabin. 


The  End  of  the  Lottery.       179 


The  usual  mode  of  managing  lotteries. 


Chapter  X. 
The  End  of  the  Lottery. 

In  almost  all  cases  of  betting  and  lotteries, 
the  operation  of  the  system  is,  that  certain  per- 
sons, called  the  knowing  ones,  contrive  to  man- 
age the  business  in  such  a  way,  by  secret  ma- 
noeuvres and  intrigues,  as  to  make  the  result 
turn  out  to  their  advantage,  at  the  expense  of 
those  parties  concerned  who  are  ignorant  and 
inexperienced,  or,  as  they  term  it,  "  green."  Very 
deep  plans  were  laid  for  accomplishing  this  ob- 
ject in  respect  to  the  lottery  described  in  the 
last  chapter  ;  though,  as  it  happened  in  this  case, 
they  were  fortunately  frustrated. 

The  principal  of  these  manoeuvres  were  the 
work  of  the  man  whom  they  called  the  Colonel. 
He  had  formed  the  plan,  with  another  man,  of 
secretly  watching  the  operation  of  heaving  the 
log  every  time  it  was  performed,  and  making  a 
note  of  the  result.  By  doing  this,  he  thought  he 
could  calculate  very  nearly  how  many  miles  the 
ship  would  make,  while  all  the  other  passengers 


180  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

. __« 

The  Colonel's  plan.  Watching  the  log. 

would  have  nothing  to  guide  them  but  such  gen* 
eral  estimates  as  they  could  make  from  recollec- 
tion. He  accordingly  arranged  it  with  his  con- 
federates that  one  or  the  other  of  them  should 
be  on  deck  whenever  the  men  were  called  to 
heave  the  log,  and,  without  appearing  to  pay  any 
particular  attention  to  the  operation,  carefully 
to  obtain  the  result,  and  make  a  memorandum 
of  it.  This  plan  was  sufficient  for  the  daytime 
For  the  night  —  inasmuch  as  it  might  excite  sus- 
picion for  them  to  be  up  at  unseasonable  hours 
to  watch  the  operation  —  they  resorted  to  another 
method.  They  bribed  one  of  the  seamen  of 
each  watch  to  find  out  the  result  of  each  trial 
during  his  watch,  and  to  give  them  the  answers 
in  the  morning.  When  the  last  time  for  heaving 
the  log,  previous  to  making  up  the  accounts  for 
the  day,  came,  which  was  at  ten  o'clock,  they 
took  that  result,  and  then,  shutting  themselves  up 
in  their  state  room,  they  made  a  calculation,  and 
ascertained  pretty  certainly,  as  they  thought, 
that  the  distance  would  be  about  267  miles.  Ifc 
might  possibly  be  266,  or  268  ;  but  they  thought 
that  they  were  sure  that  it  would  be  one  of  those 
three  numbers.  The  next  thing  was  to  circulate 
statements,  and  to  express  opinions  in  private 
conversation  here  and  there  among  the  passen- 
gers, in  a  careless  sort  of  way,  to  produce  a 


The 

End 

op 

THE    LOTTEEY.          181 

Calculations. 

Partial  success. 

general  impression  that  the  rate  of  the  ship 
would  be  not  less  than  270  miles.  This  was  to 
lead  the  owners  of  the  tickets,,  and  the  betters 
generally,  not  to  attach  a  high  value  to  the  num- 
bers below  270.  By  doing  this,  they  expected 
to  depress  the  value  of  these  tickets  in  the  gen 
eral  estimation,  so  that  they  could  buy  then 
easily.  They  calculated  that,  if  their  plans  sac 
ceedecl,  they  could  buy  266,  267,  and  268  for 
about  a  sovereign  apiece  —  the  holders  of  them 
being  made  to  suppose,  by  their  manoeuvres,  that 
those  numbers  would  have  very  little  chance  of 
obtaining  the  prize. 

The  plan  was  very  deeply  laid,  and  very  skil- 
fully executed  ;  and  the  men  were  so  far  success- 
ful in  their  efforts  that  they  did  produce  a  gen- 
eral impression  that  the  ship's  run  could  not  be 
below  270.  They  also  bought  ticket  268,  though 
they  had  to  give  two  sovereigns  for  it.  It  has 
already  been  shown  how  their  attempts  to  get 
possession  of  267  failed,  by  Hilbert's  refusal  to 
sell  it.  They  of  course  also  failed  to  get  266, 
for  that  ticket  was  not  to  be  found.  They  could 
not  make  any  very  open  and  public  inquiries  for 
it,  as  it  was  necessary  that  every  thing  which 
they  did  should  be  performed  in  a  very  uncon- 
cerned and  careless  manner.  They,  however 
made  repeated  inquiries  privately  for  this  ticket 


182  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTLC. 

The  hoax.  The  mate's  scheme. 

but  could  not  get  any  tidings  of  it.  A  certain 
sailor  told  some  of  the  betters  that  an  Irish- 
woman on  the  forward  deck  had  a  ticket  which 
she  offered  to  sell  for  two  shillings  ;  but  when, 
on  being  asked  what  the  number  was,  he  answered 
99,  they  laughed  at  him,  supposing  that  some- 
body had  been  putting  a  hoax  upon  the  poor 
Irishwoman,  as  there  was  no  such  number  as  that 
in  the  lottery. 

Besides  the  manoeuvres  of  these  two  confeder- 
ates, there  was  another  man  who  was  devising  a 
cunning  scheme  for  obtaining  the  prize.  This 
was  the  mate  of  a  merchant  ship  that  had  put 
into  the  port  of  New  York  in  a  damaged  condi- 
tion, and  had  there  been  sold.  The  mate,  being 
thus  left  without  a  vessel,  was  now  returning  as 
a  passenger  in  the  steamer,  to  Scotland,  where 
he  belonged. 

This  man  was  accustomed  to  navigation  ;  and 
he  had  the  necessary  books  for  making  the  com- 
putations in  his  trunk.  He  conceived  the  idea 
of  being  present  on  deck  at  twelve  o'clock,  when 
the  captain  made  his  observation,  and  of  learn- 
ing from  him,  as  it  were  accidentally,  what  the 
sun's  altitude  was  observed  to  be.  This  he  could 
very  easily  do,  for  it  was  customary  to  have  the 
observation  made  not  only  by  the  captain,  but 
by  one  or  two  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  ship 


The  End   of  the  Lottery.       183 

Watching  the  observations. 

also,  at  the  same  time,  who  are  all  always  provi- 
ded with  sextants  for  the  purpose.  The  results, 
when  obtained,  are  compared  together,  to  see  if 
they  agree  —  each  observer  telling  the  others 
what  altitude  he  obtains.  Thus  they  are  more 
sure  of  getting  the  result  correctly.  Besides,  it 
is  important  that  these  officers  should  have  prac- 
tice, so  that  they  may  be  able  to  take  the  obser- 
vation when  the  captain  is  sick,  or  when  they 
come  to  command  ships  themselves. 

Now,  the  mate  above  referred  to  thought  that, 
by  standing  near  the  captain  and  his  officers 
when  they  made  the  observations,  he  could  over- 
hear them  in  comparing  their  results,  and  then 
that  he  could  go  down  into  his  state  room  imme- 
diately ;  and  that  there,  by  working  very  dili- 
gently, he  could  ascertain  the  run  of  the  ship 
before  it  should  be  reported  on  the  captain's 
bulletin,  and  so  know  beforehand  what  ticket 
would  gain  the  prize.  Or,  if  he  could  not  deter- 
mine absolutely  what  the  precise  ticket  would 
be, — since  his  computation  might  not  agree  pre- 
cisely with  that  made  by  the  captain,  —  he  could 
determine  within  two  or  three  of  the  right  one, 
and  then  buy  three  tickets  —  that  is,  the  one 
which  agreed  with  his  calculation,  and  also  the 
one  above  and  below  it  —  for  perhaps  a  sovereign 
or  so  apiece :  he  would  thus  get  the  ten  sover* 


184  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


The  results  of  the  two  calculations. 


eigns  by  an  expenditure  of  three  or  four.  His 
plan,  in  fact,  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Colonel ; 
only  his  estimate  was  to  be  based  on  the  obser- 
vation, while  that  of  the  Colonel  was  based  on 
the  dead  reckoning.  They  both  performed  their 
computations  in  a  very  skilful  manner,  and  they 
came  to  nearly  the  same  result.  The  mate  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  run  of  the  ship  would 
be  266  miles  ;  while  the  Colonel,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  made  it  267.  While,  therefore,  the 
Colonel,  to  make  sure  of  the  prize,  wished  to 
buy  tickets  266,  267,  and  268,  the  mate  wished 
to  secure  265,  266,  and  267.  The  mate,  after 
making  some  inquiry,  found  who  had  265  ;  and, 
after  some  bargaining,  succeeded  in  buying  it  for 
two  sovereigns  and  a  half.  But  he  could  not 
hear  any  thing  of  266.  As  for  267,  he  discovered 
that  Hilbert  had  it,  just  as  the  bell  rang  for  lunch- 
eon. He  told  Hilbert  that  if  he  wished  to 
sell  his  ticket  he  would  give  him  thirty  shillings 
for  it,  which  is  a  sovereign  and  a  half.  But  Hil- 
bert said  no. 

It  is,  however,  time  that  this  story  of  the  lot- 
tery should  draw  to  a  close  ;  were  it  not  so,  a 
great  deal  more  detail  might  have  been  given  of 
the  manoeuvres  and  contrivances  which  both  the 
Colonel  and  the  mate  resorted  to,  to  induce  Hil- 
bert to  sell  his  ticket.     These  efforts  attracted 


The  End  op  the  Lottery.      185 

Three  pounss  for  Hubert's  ticket .  No. 

no  special  attention,  for  all  the  others  were  buy- 
ing and  selling  tickets  continually,  and  making 
oilers  for  those  which  they  could  not  buy.  Some 
were  put  up  at  auction,  and  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder,  amid  jokes,  and  gibes,  and  continual 
shouts  of  laughter. 

At  length,  when  the  time  drew  nigh  for  the 
captain's  bulletin  to  appear,  the  mate  offered 
Hilbert  three  pounds  for  his  ticket,  and  Hilbert 
went  and  asked  his  father's  advice  about  accept- 
ing this  offer.  His  father  hesitated  for  some 
time,  but  finally  advised  him  not  to  sell  his  ticket 
at  all.  Hilbert  was  satisfied  with  this  advice, 
for  he  now  began  to  be  quite  sure  that  he  should 
get  the  prize. 

At  length,  about  fifteen  minutes  after  the 
party  had  come  up  from  luncheon,  and  were  all 
assembled  around  the  paddle-box  settee,  a  gen- 
tleman came  up  one  of  stairways  with  a  slip  of 
paper  in  his  hands,  and,  advancing  to  the  group, 
he  attempted  to  still  the  noise  they  were  making, 
by  saying,  — 

"  Order,  gentlemen,  order  !  I've  got  the  bul- 
letin." 

Every  body's  attention  was  arrested  by  these 
words,  and  all  began  to  call  out  "  Order ! " 
and  "  Silence !  "  until  at  length  something  like 
cuiet  was  restored.    The  persons  assembled  were 


186        Hollo   on  the  Atlantic. 

Reading  of  the  bulletin.  66  successful. 

all  very  much  interested  in  learning  the  result ; 
for,  in  addition  to  the  prize  of  the  lottery,  there 
were  a  great  many  bets,  some  of  them  quite 
large,  pending,  all  of  which  were  to  be  decided 
by  the  bulletin. 

When,  at  length,  the  gentleman  found  that  he 
could  be  heard,  he  began  to  read  in  a  very  de- 
liberate voice,  — 

"  Latitude  forty-eight,  thirty-one." 

"Never  mind  the  latitude,"  exclaimed  the 
company.  "  The  distance.  Let's  have  the  dis- 
tance" 

"  Longitude,"  continued  the  reader,  "  ten,  four- 
teen." 

"  Nonsense !  "  said  the  company.  "  What's  the 
distance  ?  " 

"  Distance,"  continued  the  reader,  in  the  same 
tone,  "  two  hundred  and  sixty-six." 

"  Sixty-six !  "  they  all  exclaimed  together  ;  and 
great  inquiries  were  immediately  made  for  the 
missing  ticket.  But  nobody  knew  any  thing 
about  it.  At  last,  Mr.  Chauncy 's  companion, 
Charles,  who  happened  to  be  there,  said,  — s 

"Why,  Chauncy  had  66,  I  believe."  Then 
calling  out  aloud  to  Mr.  Chauncy,  who  had  come 
up  on  the  deck  after  luncheon,  and  was  now  sit- 
ting on  one  of  the  settees  that  stood  around  the 
skylight,  he  added,  — 


The  End  of  the  Lottery.      137 

The  Irishwoman's  good  fortune. 

"  Chauncy !  here !  come  here !  Where  is  your 
ticket  ?    You  have  got  the  prize." 

"  No,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy,  in  a  careless  tone, 
without,  however,  moving  from  his  seat.  "  I  have 
not  any  ticket.*' 

Two  or  tnree  of  the  gentlemen,  then,  headed 
by  Charles,  went  to  the  place  where  Mr.  Chaun 
cy  was  sitting,  to  question  him  more  particu- 
larly. 

"  "Where's  your  ticket  ?  "  said  Charles. 

"  I  gave  it  to  one  of  the  deck  passengers," 
said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

"You  did!"  said  Charles.  "Well,  it  has 
drawn  the  prize.    What  was  the  number  of  it?' 

"  Ninety-nine,  I  believe,"  said  Mr.  Chauncy. 

"  Ninety-nine !  "  repeated  Charles,  contemptu- 
ously. "  Nonsense !  There  was  no  ninety-nine. 
It  was  sixty-six." 

Then,  shouting  with  laughter,  he  said,  "  0, 
dear  me !  that's  so  exactly  like  Chauncy.  He 
gives  half  a  sovereign  for  a  ticket,  then  reads  it 
upside  down,  and  gives  it  away  to  an  Irish- 
woman.    0  Gemini  1  " 

So  saying,  Charles,  and  those  with  him,  went 
away,  laughing  vociferously  at  Chauncy's  ex- 
pense. 

The  remainder  of  the  adventurers  in  the  lot- 
tery had  in   the   mean    iime   dispersed,  having 


188        Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  chagrin  of  the  losers.  The  Colonel  and  the  mate. 

slunk  away,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  to  conceal 
their  mortification  and  chagrin.  It  was  not 
merely  that  they  had  each  lost  a  half  sover- 
eign ;  but  they  had  all  calculated,  with  greater 
or  less  certainty,  on  getting  the  prize ;  and  the 
vexation  which  they  experienced  at  the  disap- 
pointment was  extreme.  Some  of  them  had 
bought  up  several  tickets,  in  order  to  make  sure 
of  the  prize.  These  were,  of  course,  doubly  and 
trebly  chagrined.  Some  had  been  offered  good 
prices  for  their  tickets,  but  had  refused  to  ac- 
cept them,  hoping,  by  keeping  the  tickets,  to  get 
the  prize.  These  persons  were  now  vexed  and 
angry  with  themselves  for  not  accepting  these 
offers.  Then  there  was  a  feeling  of  guilt  and 
condemnation  which  mingled  with  their  disap- 
pointment, and  made  it  very  bitter  and  hard  to 
bear. 

The  Colonel  and  the  mate,  when  they  learned 
that  the  Irishwoman  held  the  winning  ticket, 
both  immediately  began  to  saunter  slowly  along 
toward  the  stairways  that  led  down  to  the  for- 
ward deck,  each  having  formed  the  plan  of  go- 
ing and  buying  the  ticket  of  the  woman  before 
she  should  hear  that  it  had  gained  the  prize. 
They  moved  along  with  a  careless  and  uncon- 
cerned air,  in  order  not  to  awaken  any  suspicion 
of  their  designs     They  were  suspected,  however, 


The  End   of  the  Lottery.       189 

Their  schemes  again.  "  Colonel !  half !  " 

both  of  them,  by  Mr.  Cliauncy.  He  accordingly 
walked  forward,  too  ;  and  he  reached  a  part  of 
the  promenade  deck  that  was  near  the  smoke 
pipe,  where  he  could  look  down  upon  the  place 
where  the  woman  was  sitting.  He  reached  the 
spot  just  as  the  two  men  came  before  her,  one 
having  descended  by  one  staircase,  and  the  other 
by  the  other.  When  they  met  each  other,  close 
before  where  the  woman  was  sitting,  they  each 
understood  in  an  instant  for  what  purpose  the 
other  had  come.  They  knew,  too,  that  it  would 
defeat  the  object  altogether  if  they  both  at- 
tempted to  buy  the  ticket ;  and  yet  there  was  no 
time  or  opportunity  to  make  any  formal  stipula- 
tion on  the  subject  between  them.  Such  men, 
however,  are  always  very  quick  and  cunning, 
and  ready  for  all  emergencies.  The  mate,  with- 
out speaking  to  the  woman,  gave  a  wink  to  the 
Colonel,  and  said  in  an  undertone,  as  he  sauntered 
slowly  along  by  him,  — 

"Colonel!  half!" 

"  Done !  "  said  the  Colonel. 

So  the  mate  passed  carelessly  on,  leaving  the 
Colonel  to  manage  the  negotiation,  with  the 
understanding  that  they  were  to  share  the  profits 
of  the  transaction  between  them. 

Just  at  this  moment,  Mr.  Chauncy,  who  waa 
looking  down  upon  this  scene  from  above,  called 
out  to  the  woman,  — 


190  ROLLO     ON    THE     ATLANTIC. 

Their  plans  defeate  I.  Hilbert's  vexation. 

"  My  good  woman,  your  ticket  has  drawn  the 
prize.  The  Colonel  has  come  to  pay  you  the 
money." 

The  Colonel  was  overwhelmed  with  astonish- 
ment and  vexation  at  this  interruption.  He 
looked  up,  with  a  countenance  full  of  rage,  to  see 
from  whom  the  sound  proceeded.  There  were 
one  or  two  other  gentlemen  standing  with 
Chauncy  as  witnesses  of  the  scene  ;  and  the 
Colonel  saw  at  once  that  his  scheme  was  defeat- 
ed. So  he  made  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and,  tak- 
ing out  the  purse,  he  poured  the  ten  sovereigns 
into  the  poor  woman's  lap.  She  was  over- 
whelmed and  bewildered  with  astonishment  at 
finding  herself  suddenly  in  possession  of  so  much 
money. 

As  for  Hilbert,  there  were  no  bounds  to  the 
vexation  and  anger  which  he  experienced  in  the 
failure  of  all  his  hopes  and  expectations. 

"  What  a  miserable  fool  I  was ! "  said  he.  "  I 
might  have  had  that  very  ticket.  He  as  good  as 
offered  to  exchange  with  me.  Such  a  stupid 
dolt  as  I  was,  not  to  know  when  it  was  upside 
down !  Then,  besides,  I  was  offered  two  pounds 
for  my  ticket,  sure  —  and  I  believe  I  should 
have  taken  it,  if  my  father  had  not  advised  me 
not  to  do  it.  That  would  have  come  to  almost 
fifteen  dollars,  and  that  I  should  have  been  sure 


The  End  of  the  Lottery.      191 

Hilbert's  desperate  resolutions.  General  results. 

of.  So  much  for  taking  my  father's  advice.  I 
hope  they'll  get  up  another  lottery  to-morrow, 
and  then  I'll  buy  a  ticket  and  do  just  as  I  please 
with  it,  and  not  take  a?iy  body's  advice.  I  shall 
be  sure  to  make  fifteen  dollars,  at  least,  if  I  don't 
do  any  better  than  I  might  have  done  to-day. 

The  rest  of  the  company  felt  very  much  a3 
Hilbert  did  about  their  losses  and  disappoint- 
ments, though  the  etiquette  of  gambling,  which 
they  understood  better  than  he,  forbade  their 
expressing  their  feelings  so  freely.  In  fact,  one 
source  of  the  illusion  which  surrounds  this  vice 
is,  that  the  interest  which  ils  excites,  and  the 
hilarity  and  mirth  which  attend  it  during  its 
progress,  are  all  open  to  view,  while  the  disap- 
pointment, the  mortification,  the  chagrin,  and 
the  remorse  are  all  studiously  concealed.  The 
remorse  is  the  worst  ingredient  in  the  bitter 
cup.  It  not  only  stings  and  torments  those 
who  have  lost,  but  it  also  spoils  the  pleasure  of 
those  who  win.  That  is,  in  fact,  always  the  na- 
ture and  tendency  of  remorse.  It  aggravates 
all  the  pain  and  suffering  that  it  mingles  with, 
and  poisons  all  the  pleasure. 


192  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Cape  Clear.  Exactness  of  the  captain's  reckoning. 


Chapter    XI. 

The  Arrival. 

Day  after  day  of  the  voyage  thus  glided 
away,  the  time  being  beguiled  by  the  various  in- 
cidents which  occurred,  until  at  length  the  ship 
began  to  draw  near  toward  the  land.  As  the 
time  passed  on,  the  interest  which  the  passengers 
felt  in  their  approach  toward  the  land  began  to 
be  very  strong.  Some  of  them  were  crossing 
the  Atlantic  for  the  first  time ;  and  they,  of 
course,  anticipated  their  first  view  of  the  shores 
of  the  old  world  with  great  anticipations  of  de- 
light. The  first  land  to  be  "  made,"  as  the  sail- 
ors say,  that  is  to  be  seen,  was  Cape  Clear  — 
the  southern  point  of  Ireland.  There  is  a  light- 
house on  this  point ;  and  so  well  had  the  cap- 
tain kept  his  reckoning,  and  so  exact  had  been 
his  calculations  in  his  progress  over  the  mighty 
waste  of  waters,  that  on  the  morning  of  the  last 
day  he  could  venture  to  predict  to  an  hour  when 
the  light  would  come  into  view.  He  said  it 
would  be  between  nine  and  ten.    When  Maria  and 


The  Arrival.  193 

The  coast  of  Ireland  in  full  view. 

the  two  children  went  to  their  berths,  Maria  asked 
the  chambermaid  to  come  and  tell  them  when 
the  light  was  in  sight.  She  accordingly  did  so. 
Bollo,  in  order  to  know  how  near  the  captain 
was  in  his  calculations,  asked  her  what  o'clock 
it  was.  She  said  twenty-five  minutes  after  eight. 
How  astonishing  must  be  the  accuracy  of  the 
instruments  and  the  calculations  which  can  ena- 
ble a  man  to  guide  a  ship  across  so  utterly  track- 
less a  waste,  aiming  at  a  lighthouse  three  thou- 
sand miles  away,  and  not  only  come  out  exactly 
upon  it,  but  come  there,  too,  so  exactly  at  the 
time  predicted  by  the  calculation  I 

When  the  children-  went  on  deck  the  next 
morning,  the  southern  coast  of  Ireland  was  all  in 
full  view.  Those  who  feel  an  interest  in  seeing 
the  track  of  the  ship,  will  find,  by  turning  to  a 
map  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  that  her 
course  in  going  in  from  the  Atlantic  toward 
Liverpool  lay  at  first  along  the  southern  coast 
of  Ireland,  and  then  along  the  western  coast  of 
Wales.  This  route,  though  it  seems  but  a  short 
distance  on  the  map,  requires  really  a  voyage  of 
several  hundred  miles,  and  more  than  a  day  in 
time,  for  the  performance  of  it.  The  voyage  of 
the  ship  is,  therefore,  by  no  means  ended  when 
she  reaches  the  land  at  Cape  Clear.  There  is 
still  a  day  and  a  night  more  for  the  passengers 
M 


194  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Views  of  the  shore.  "  Safe  off  of  the  great  sea." 

to  spend  on  board  the  vessel.  The  time  is,  how- 
ever, very  much  beguiled  during  this  last  day's 
sail  by  the  sight  of  the  land  and  the  various 
objects  which  it  presents  to  view  —  the  green 
slopes,  the  castle-covered  hills,  the  cliffs,  the 
lines  of  beach,  with  surf  and  breakers  rolling 
in  upon  them  ;  and  sometimes,  when  the  ship  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  the  shore  than  usual,  the 
pretty  little  cottages,  covered  with  thatch,  and 
adorned  with  gardens  and  shrubbery. 

The  children  stood  by  the  railing  of  the  deck 
for  some  time  after  they  came  up  from  below, 
gazing  at  the  shores,  and  admiring  the  various 
pictures  of  rural  beauty  which  the  scene  pre- 
sented to  the  eye.  At  length,  becoming  a  little 
tired,  they  went  and  sat  down  upon  one  of  the 
settees,  where  they  could  have  a  more  comfort- 
able position,  and  still  enjoy  a  good  view.  Not 
long  afterward,  the  captain,  who  had  been  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  deck  for  some  time,  came 
and  sat  down  by  them. 

"  "Well,  children,"  said  he,  "  are  you  glad  to 
get  to  the  end  of  the  voyage  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Jennie.  "  I  am  glad  to  get 
safe  off  of  the  great  sea." 

"  And  I  suppose  that  you  must  be  very  glad, 
sir,"  added  Itollo,  "  to  get  to  the  end  of  your 
responsibility." 


The  Arrival.  195 

The  captain's  explanation.  The  real  danger. 

"  Ah,  but  I  have  not  got  to  the  end  of  my  re- 
sponsibility yet,  by  any  means,"  said  the  captain. 

As  he  said  this,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  and 
looked  out  very  attentively  forward  for  a  minute 
or  two.  At  length  he  seemed  satisfied,  and  sat 
down  again. 

"  Well,  you  have  got  through  all  the  danger, 
at  any  rate,"  said  Rollo,  "  now  that  we  are  inside 
the  land." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  said  the  captain,  "  we  are 
just  coming  into  the  danger.  There  is  very  little 
danger  for  a  good  ship,  whether  it  is  a  sailing 
ship  or  a  steamer,  out  in  the  open  sea.  It  is  only 
when  she  comes  among  the  rocks,  and  shoals,  and 
currents,  and  other  dangers  which  thicken  along 
the  margin  of  the  land,  that  she  has  much  to 
fear.  Ships  are  almost  always  cast  away,  when 
they  are  cast  away  at  all,  near  or  upon  the  land." 

"  Is  that  the  way  ?  "  replied  Rollo.  "  I  thought 
they  were  cast  away  at  sea.  I  am  sure  it  looks 
a  great  deal  safer  here  than  it  does  out  in  the 
middle  of  the  ocean." 

"  I  suppose  so,  to  your  eyes,"  replied  the  cap- 
tain. "  But  you  will  see,  by  reflecting  on  the 
subject,  that  it  is,  in  fact,  just  the  contrary.  If  a 
very  violent  storm  comes  up  when  the  ship  is  out 
in  the  open  sea,  it  can  ordinarily  do  no  harm, 
only  to  drive  the  ship  off  her  course,  or  perhaps 


196  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 

Description  of  a  wreck.  Sc-nuing. 

carry  away  some  of  her  spars  or  sails.  If  there 
is  no  land  in  the  way,  she  is  in  very  little  dan- 
ger. But  it  is  very  different  if  a  gale  of  wind 
comes  up  suddenly  in  such  a  place  as  this." 

"  And  how  is  it  here  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Why,  in  the  case  of  a  good  steamer  like 
this,"  said  the  captain,  "  it  makes  no  great  differ- 
ence here  ;  for  we  go  straight  forward  on  our 
course,  as  long  as  we  can  see,  let  it  blow  as  it 
will.  But  a  sailing  vessel  would  very  probably 
not  be  able  to  stand  against  it.  but  would  be 
driven  off  toward  any  rocks,  or  sand  banks,  or 
shores  that  might  happen  to  be  in  the  way." 

"  And  so  she  would  certainly  be  wrecked," 
said  Rollo. 

"No,  not  certainly," replied  the  captain.  "As 
soon  as  they  found  that  the  water  was  shoaling, 
they  would  anchor." 

"  How  do  they  know  when  the  water  is  shoal- 
ing ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  By  the  lead,"  replied  the  captain.  "  Did  you 
never  sound  with  the  lead  and  line  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  replied  Rollo. 

"  Well,  they  have  a  lead,  and  a  long  line,"  re- 
joined the  captain,  "  and  they  let  the  lead  down 
to  the  bottom  by  means  of  the  line,  and  so  learn 
how  deep  the  water  is.  The  lead  is  round  and 
long.     It  is  about  as  large  round,  and  about  as 


The  Arrival.  197 

The  lead  described.  Difficulties  in  sounding. 

long,  as  Jennie's  arm,  from  her  elbow  to  her 
wrist,  and  there  is  a  small  cavity  in  the  lower 
end  of  it." 

"  What  is  that  for  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"That  is  to  bring  up  some  of  the  sand,  or 
mud,  or  gravel,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  that  form3 
the  bottom,"  replied  the  captain.  "  They  put 
something  into  the  hole,  before  they  let  the  lead 
down,  to  make  the  sand  or  gravel  stick.  When 
they  see  the  nature  of  the  bottom  in  this  way, 
it  often  helps  them  to  determine  where  they  are, 
in  case  it  is  a  dark  night,  or  a  foggy  day,  and 
they  have  got  lost.  It  is  very  easy  to  measure 
the  depth  of  the  sea  in  this  way,  where  it  is  not 
over  a  few  hundred  fathoms." 

"  How  much  is  a  fathom  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Six  feet,"  replied  the  capta:n  ;  "  that  is  as 
far  as  a  man  can  reach  by  stretching  out  both 
hands  along  a  wall.  If  the  water  is  only  a  few 
hundred  fathoms  deep,"  continued  the  captain, 
"  we  can  sound  ;  but  if  it  is  much  deeper  than 
that,  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  the  lead  down." 

"  Why,  I  should  think,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  the 
lead  would  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  itself,  no 
matter  how  deep  the  water  was." 

"It  would,"  said  the  captain,  "were  it  not  for 
the  line.  But  the  line  has  some  buoyancy  ;  and, 
besides,  it  makes  a  great   deal  of  friction  m 


198  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Floating  of  the  line.  Effect  of  the  currents. 

being  drawn  through  the  water  ;  so  that,  when 
the  line  begins  to  get  very  long,  it  becomes  very 
difficult  for  the  lead  to  get  it  down.  As  they  let 
out  the  line  from  the  ship,  it  goes  more  and  more 
slowly,  until  at  last  it  does  not  seem  to  move  at 
all." 

"  Then  the  lead  must  be  on  the  bottom,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  No,  that  is  not  certain,"  said  the  captain. 
"  It  may  be  only  that  the  quantity  of.line  that  is 
out  is  sufficient  to  float  the  lead.  Besides  that, 
the  currents  in  the  water,  which  may  set  in  dif- 
ferent directions  at  different  depths,  carry  the 
line  off  to  one  side  and  the  other,  so  that  it  lies 
very  crooked  in  the  water,  and  the  weight  of  the 
lead  is  not  sufficient  to  straighten  it." 

"  Then  they  ought  to  have  a  heavier  lead,  I 
should  think,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  captain  ;  "  and  for  deep-sea 
soundings  they  do  use  very  heavy  sinkers.  Some- 
times they  use  cannon  balls  as  heavy  as  a  man 
can  lift.  Then  they  take  great  pains,  too,  to  have 
a  very  light  and  small  line.  Still,  with  all  these 
precautions,  it  is  very  difficult,  after  some  miles 
of  the  line  are  run  out,  to  tell  when  the  shot 
reaches  the  bottom.  In  some  of  the  deepest 
places  in  the  sea,  the  line,  when  they  attempt  to 
Bound,  is  all  day  running  out.    I  knew  one  case 


The   Arrival.  199 

A  singular  case.  Difficulty  of  recovering  the  line 

where  they  threw  the  shot  overboard  in  the 
morning,  and  the  line  continued  to  run  out, 
though  slower  and  slower,  of  course,  all  the 
time,  until  night.  It  changed  its  rate  of  running 
so  gradually,  that  at  last  they  could  not  tell 
whether  it  was  running  or  not.  It  seemed  to 
float  idly  in  the  water,  sinking  slowly  all  the 
time  ;  and  yet  they  could  not  tell  whether  it  was 
drawn  in  by  the  drifting  of  the  portion  of  the 
line  already  down,  or  by  the  weight  of  the  shot. 
So  they  could  not  tell  certainly  whether  they 
had  reached  bottom  or  not. 

"  There  is  another  thing  that  is  curious  about 
it,"  added  the  captain  ;  "  and  that  is,  that,  when 
a  line  is  let  out  to  such  a  length,  they  can  never 
get  it  back  again." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Rollo. 

"  It  is  not  strong  enough,"  said  the  captain, 
"  to  bear  the  strain  of  drawing  such  an  immense 
length  out  of  the  water.  There  is  a  very  con- 
siderable degree  of  friction  produced  in  draw- 
ing a  line  of  any  kind  through  the  water  ;  and 
when  the  line  is  some  miles  in  length,  and  has, 
besides,  a  heavy  ball  at  the  end  of  it,  the  resist- 
ance becomes  enormous.  Whenever  they  attempt 
to  draw  up  a  sounding  line  of  such  a  length,  it 
always  parts  at  a  distance  of  a  few  hundred 
fathoms  from  the  surface,  so  that  only  a  small 
part  of  the  line  is  ever  recovered." 


200  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

A  naval  stratagem.  SounJings  in  share. 

"  I  should  not  suppose  it  would  be  so  hard  to 
draw  up  the  line,"  said  Rollo.  "I  should  have 
thought  that  it  would  come  up  very  easily." 

"  No,"  said  the  captain.  "  If  you  draw  even  a 
whiplash  through  the  water,  you  will  find  that  it 
draws  much  harder  than  it  does  on  the  grass  ; 
and  if  a  boy's  kite  were  to  fall  upon  a  pond  at  a 
great  distance  from  the  shore,  I  don't  think  he 
could  draw  it  in  by  the  string.  The  string  would 
break,  on  account  of  the  friction  of  the  string 
and  of  the  kite  in  the  water.  Sometimes,  in 
naval  battles,  when  a  ship  is  pretending  to  try 
to  escape,  in  order  to  entice  another  ship  to  fol- 
low her,  away  from  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  they 
tow  a  rope  behind,  and  this  rope,  dragging  in 
the  water,  retards  the  ship,  and  prevents  her 
from  going  very  fast,  notwithstanding  that  all 
the  sails  are  set,  and  she  seems  to  be  sailing  as 
fast  as  she  can." 

"  That's  a  curious  way  of  doing  it,"  said  Rollo  ; 
"  isn't  it,  Jennie  ?  " 

Jennie  thought  that  it  was  a  very  curious  way 
indeed. 

"  There  is  no  difficulty,"  said  the  captain,  re- 
suming his  explanations,  "in  finding  the  depth 
of  the  sea  in  harbors  and  bays,  or  at  any  place 
near  the  shore  ;  for  in  all  such  places  it  is  usually 
much  less  than  a  hundred  fathoms.     So  when  in 


The  Arrival.  201 


a  dark  night,  or  in  a  fog,  the  ship  is  driven  by 
the  wind  in  a  direction  where  they  know  there 
is  land,  they  sound  often  ;  and  when  they  find 
that  the  water  is  shoal  enough,  they  let  go  the 
anchor." 

"  And  so  the  anchor  holds  them,"  said  Jennie, 
"  I  suppose,  and  keeps  them  from  going  against 
the  land." 

"Yes,"  said  the  captain,  "generally,  but  not 
always.  Sometimes  the  bottom  is  of  smooth 
rock,  or  of  some  other  hard  formation,  which 
the  flukes  of  the  anchor  cannot  penetrate,  and 
then  the  ship  drifts  on  toward  the  land,  dragging 
the  anchor  with  her." 

"  And  what  do  they  do  in  that  case  ?  "  asked 
Hollo. 

"Very  often  there  is  nothing  that  they  can  do," 
said  the  captain,  "  except  to  let  out  more  cable, 
cautiously,  so  as  to  give  the  anchor  a  better 
chance  to  catch  in  some  cleft  or  crevice  in  the 
bottom.  Sometimes  it  does  catch  in  this  man- 
ner, and  then  the  ship  is  stopped,  and,  foi  a  time, 
the  people  on  board  think  they  are  safe." 

"  And  are  they  safe  ?  "  asked  Rollo. 

"  Perhaps  so,"  replied  the  captain  ;  "  and  yet 
there  is  still  some  danger.  The  anchor  may 
have  caught  at  a  place  where  the  cable  passe? 
over  the  edge  of  a  sharp  rock,  which  soon  cuts 


202  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 


A  large  sliip.  The  conversation  terminates. 

it  off,  in  consequence  of  the  motion.     Then  the 
ship  must  go  on  shore. 

"  At  other  times,"  continued  the  captain,  "  the 
ground  for  the  anchor  is  too  soft,  instead  of 
Deing  too  hard  ;  and  the  flukes,  therefore,  do  not 
take  a  firm  hold  of  it.  Then  the  anchor  will 
{rag.  Every  sea  that  strikes  the  ship  drives 
-\er  a  little  in  toward  the  shore,  and  she  is,  of 
course,  in  great  danger." 

The  captain  would,  perhaps,  have  gone  on  still 
further  in  his  conversation  with  the  children,  had 
it  not  happened  that  just  at  this  time,  on  rising 
to  look  out  forward,  he  saw  a  large  ship,  under 
full  sail,  coming  down  the  channel.  So  he  rose, 
and  went  up  upon  one  of  the  paddle  boxes,  to 
see  that  a  proper  lookout  was  kept,  to  avoid  a 
collision. 

The  seas  which  lie  between  England  and  Ire- 
land are  so  wide,  and  they  are  so  provided  with 
lighthouses  and  buoys,  that  no  pilot  is  necessary 
for  the  navigation  of  them  ;  and  the  pilot  boats, 
therefore,  which  contain  the  pilot  who  is  to  take 
the  vessel  into  port,  generally  await  the  arrival 
of  the  ship  off  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey,  at  a 
place  which  the  steamer  reaches  about  twenty- 
four  hours  after  making  Cape  Clear.  When  the 
steamer  in  which  Rollo  made  his  voyage  arrived 
at  this  place,  almost  all  the  passengers  came  on 


The  Areival.  203 

Signal  for  the  pilot. 

deck  to  witness  the  operation  of  taking  the  pilot 
on  board.  There  were  ships  and  steamers  to  be 
seen  on  every  side,  proceeding  in  different  direc 
tions  —  some  going  across  to  Ireland,  some 
southwardly  out  to  sea ;  and  there  were  others, 
still,  which  were,  like  the  steamer,  bound  in  to 
Liverpool.  Among  these,  there  was  a  small  ves- 
sel at  a  distance  from  the  steamer,  with  a  certain 
signal  flying.  This  signal  was  to  show  that  this 
boat  was  the  one  which  contained  the  pilot 
whose  turn  it  was  to  take  the  steamer  in.  The 
captain  gave  the  proper  orders  to  the  helmsman, 
and  the  steamer  gradually  turned  from  her 
course,  so  as  to  approach  the  spot  where  the 
pilot  boat  was  lying.  As  she  came  near,  a  little 
skiff  was  seen  at  the  stern  of  the  pilot  boat, 
with  men  getting  into  it.  In  a  moment  more, 
the  skiff  pushed  off  and  rowed  toward  the 
steamer.  A  sailor  stood  on  a  sort  of  platform 
abaft  the  wheel  house  to  throw  the  men  in  the 
skiff  a  rope  when  they  came  near.  The  engine 
was  stopped,  and  the  monstrous  steampipe  com- 
menced blowing  off  the  steam,  which,  being  now 
no  longer  employed  to  work  the  engine,  it  would 
be  dangerous  to  keep  pent  up.  The  steam,  in 
issuing  from  the  pipe,  produced  a  dense  cloud  of 
smoke  and  a  terrific  roaring. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  skiff  approached  the 


204        Rollo   ox  ihe  Atlantic. 

The  passengers  commence  their  preparations  for  landing. 

ship,  and  the  men  on  board  of  it  caught  the  rope 
thrown  to  them  by  the  sailor  on  the  platform. 
By  this  rope  they  were  drawn  up  to  the  side  of 
the  ship  at  a  place  where  there  was  a  ladder ; 
and  then  the  pilot,  leaving  the  skiff,  clambered  up 
and  came  on  board.  The  men  in  the  skiff  then 
pushed  off  and  turned  to  go  back  toward  the 
pilot  boat.  The  roaring  of  the  steam  suddenly 
-ceased,  the  paddle  wheels  began  again  to  re- 
volve, and  the  ship  recommenced  her  motion. 
The  pilot  went  up  upon  the  paddle  box  and  gave 
orders  to  the  helmsman  how  to  steer,  while  the 
captain  came  down.  His  responsibility  and  care 
in  respect  to  the  navigation  of  the  ship  for  that 
voyage  was  now  over. 

In  fact,  the  passengers  began  to  consider  the 
voyage  as  ended.  They  all  went  to  work  pack 
ing  up  their  trunks,  adjusting  their  dress,  chan- 
ging their  caps  for  hats,  and  making  other  prep- 
arations for  the  land. 

As  the  time  drew  nigh  for  going  on  shore, 
Jennie  began  to  feel  some  apprehension  on  the 
subject,  inasmuch  as.  judging  from  all  tho  for- 
midable preparations  which  she  saw  going  on 
around  her.  she  inferred  that  landing  in  Liver- 
pool from  an  Atlantic  steamer  must  be  a  very 
different  thing  from  going  on  shore  at  New  York 
after  a  voyage  down  the  Hudson.    As  for  Rollo, 


The  Arrival.  205 

Hollo  forms  his  plans  about  a  hotel. 

his  feelings  were  quite  the  reverse  from  Jennie's. 
He  not  only  felt  no  solicitude  on  the  subject,  but 
he  began  to  be  quite  ambitious  of  going  ashore 
alone  —  that  is,  without  any  one  to  take  charge 
of  him. 

"  We  shall  get  along,  Jennie,  very  well  in- 
deed," said  Rollo.  "  I  asked  one  of  the  passen- 
gers about  it.  The  custom-house  officers  will 
come  and  look  into  our  trunks,  to  see  if  we  have 
got  any  smuggled  goods  in  them.  They  won't 
find  any  in  ours,  I  can  tell  them.  Then  all  I 
have  got  to  do  is,  to  ask  one  of  the  cabmen  to 
take  us  in  his  cab,  and  carry  us  to  a  hotel." 

"  To  what  hotel  ?  "  asked  Jennie. 

"  Why  —  I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo,  rather 
puzzled.  "  To  the  best  hotel.  I'll  just  tell  him 
to  the  best  hotel." 

"  Well,"  said  Jennie,  "  and  what  then  ?  " 

"Well,  —  and  then,"  —  said  Rollo,  looking  a 
little  perplexed  again,  and  speaking  rather 
doubtingly,  —  "then,  —  why,  I  suppose  that  fa- 
ther will  send  somebody  there  to  find  us." 

Jennie  was  not  convinced  ;  but  she  had  nothing 
more  to  say,  and  so  she  was  silent. 

Rollo's  plan,  however,  of  taking  care  of  him- 
self in  the  landing  seemed  not  likely  to  be 
realized ;  for  there  were  not  less  than  three  dif- 
ferent arrangements  made,  on  the  evening  of  the 


206  ROLLO    ON    THE     ATLANTIC. 

The  bearer  of  despatches.  His  duties. 

arrival,  for  taking  care  of  him.  In  the  first 
place,  his  father  and  mother  were  at  the  Adelphi 
Hotel,  in  Liverpool,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
steamer,  and  intending  to  go  on  board  as  soon 
as  the  guns  should  announce  her  coming.  In 
the  second  place,  Mr.  Chauncy,  Maria's  brother, 
said  that  they  should  go  with  him  and  Maria. 
He  would  take  the  children,  he  said,  to  a  hotel, 
and  then  take  immediate  measures  to  find  out 
where  Mr.  Holiday  was.  In  the  third  place,  the 
captain  came  to  Rollo  just  after  sunset,  and  made 
a  similar  proposal. 

Rollo,  not  knowing  any  thing  about  his  father's 
plan,  accepted  Mr.  Chauncy's  offer  ;  and  then, 
when  the  captain  came,  he  thanked  him  for  his 
kindness,  but  said  that  he  was  going  with  Mr. 
Chauncy  and  Maria. 

"  Then  you  will  go  in  the  night,"  said  the  cap- 
tain ;  "  for  Mr.  Chauncy  is  the  bearer  of  de- 
spatches." 

Rollo  did  not  understand  what  the  captain 
meant  by  this,  though  it  was  afterward  explained 
to  him.  The  explanation  was  this  :  Every 
steamer,  besides  the  passengers,  carries  the  mails. 
The  mails,  containing  all  the  letters  and  papers 
that  are  passing  between  the  two  countries,  are 
conveyed  in  a  great  number  of  canvas  and 
leather  bag?,  and  sometimes  in  tin  boxes  ;  enough, 


The  Arrival.  207 

Mode  of  landing  of  the  hearer  oi    lespatches. 

often,  to  make  several  cartloads.  Besides  these 
mails,  which  contain  the  letters  of  private  citi- 
zens, the  government  of  the  United  States  has 
always  a  bag  full  of  letters  and  papers  which 
are  to  be  sent  to  the  American  minister  in  Lon- 
don, for  his  instruction.  These  letters  and  pa- 
pers are  called  the  government  despatches. 
They  are  not  sent  with  the  mails,  but  are  in- 
trusted usually  to  some  one  of  the  passengers  — 
a  gentleman  known  to  the  government  as  faith- 
ful and  trustworthy.  This  passenger  is  called 
the  bearer  of  despatches. 

Now,  the  steamers,  when  they  arrive  at  Liver- 
pool, cannot  usually  go  directly  up  to  the  pier, 
because  the  water  is  not  deep  enough  there,  ex- 
cept at  particular  states  of  the  tide.  They  ac- 
cordingly have  to  anchor  in  the  stream,  at  some 
distance  from  the  shore.  As  soon  as  they  an- 
chor, whether  it  is  by  day  or  by  night,  a  small 
steamer  comes  alongside  to  get  the  mails  and  the 
despatches  ;  for  they  must  be  landed  immediate- 
ly, so  as  to  proceed  directly  to  London  by  the 
first  train.  The  bearer  of  despatches,  together 
with  his  family,  or  those  whom  he  has  directly 
under  his  charge,  are,  of  course,  allowed  to  go 
on  shore  in  the  small  steamer  with  the  despatch 
bag.  but  the  rest  of  the  passengers  have  to  wait 
to  have  their  trunks  and  baggage  examined  by 


208  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Slow  progress  of  the  ship.  Danger  of  collisions. 

the  custom-house  officers.  If  the  vessel  gets  to 
Liverpool  in  the  night,  they  hare  to  wait  until 
the  next  morning.  This  was  what  the  captain 
meant  by  saying,  that,  if  the  children  went  on 
shore  with  Mr.  Chauncy,  they  would  go  in  the 
night  ;  for  he  then  expected  to  get  to  his  anchor- 
ing ground  so' that  the  boat  for  the  mails  would 
come  off  to  the  ship  at  about  half  past  twelve. 

Accordingly,  that  evening,  when  bedtime 
came,  Maria  and  the  children  did  not  go  to  bed, 
but  they  lay  down  upon  the  couches  and  in  their 
berths,  in  their  dayclothes,  awaiting  the  sum- 
mons which  they  expected  to  receive  when  the 
small  steamer  should  come.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  ship  went  on,  sometimes  going  very  slowly, 
and  sometimes  stopping  altogether,  in  order  to 
avoid  a  collision  with  some  other  vessel  which 
was  coming  in  her  way.  The  night  was  foggy 
and  dark,  so  that  her  progress,  to  be  safe,  was 
necessarily  slow.  At  length,  Maria  and  the 
children,  tired  of  waiting  and  watching,  all  three 
fell  asleep.  They  were,  however,  suddenly 
aroused  from  their  slumbers  about  midnight,  by 
the  chambermaid,  who  came  into  their  state  room 
and  told  them  that  Mr.  Chauncy  was  ready. 

They  rose  and  hurried  up  on  deck.  Their 
trunks  had  been  taken  up  before  them.  When 
they  reached  the  deck,  they  found  Mr.  Chauncy 


The  Arrival.  209 

The  little  steamer. 

there  and  the  captain,  and  with  them  two  or 
three  rather  rough-looking  men,  in  shaggy  coats, 
examining  their  trunks  by  the  light  of  lanterns 
which  they  held  in  their  hands.  The  examina- 
tion was  very  slight.  The  men  merely  lifted  up 
the  things  in  the  corners  a  little,  and,  finding  that 
there  appeared  to  be  nothing  but  clothing  in  the 
trunks,  they  said,  "  All  right ! "  and  then  shut 
them  up  again.  All  this  time  the  steampipe  of 
the  little  steamer  alongside  kept  up  such  a  deaf- 
ening roar  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  hear 
what  was  said. 

The  way  of  descent  to  get  down  from  the  deck 
of  the  great  steamer  to  the  little  one  was  very 
steep  and  intricate,  and  it  seemed  doubly  so  on 
account  of  the  darkness  and  gloom  of  the  night. 
In  the  first  place,  you  had  to  climb  up  three  or 
four  steps  to  get  to  the  top  of  the  bulwarks  ;  then 
to  go  down  a  long  ladder,  which  landed  you  on 
the  top  of  the  paddle  box  of  the  steamer.  From 
this  paddle  box  you  walked  along  a  little  way 
over  what  they  called  a  bridge  ;  and  then  there 
was  another  flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the  deck. 
As  all  these  stairs,  and  also  the  sides  of  both 
the  steamers,  were  painted  black,  and  as  the 
water  looked  black  and  gloomy  too,  the  whole 
being  only  faintly  illuminated  by  the  lurid  glare 
of  the  lanterns  held  by  the  men,  the  prospect 
N 


210  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

Maria  is  afraid  to  go  on  board.  Great  scene  of  confusion. 

was  really  very  disheartening.  Maria  said,  when 
she  reached  the  top  of  the  bulwark  and  looked 
down,  that  she  should  never  dare  to  go  down 
there  in  the  world. 

She  was,  however,  a  sensible  girl,  and  as  she 
knew  very  well  that  there  could  not  be  any  real 
danger  in  such  a  case,  she  summoned  all  her  res- 
olution and  went  on.  Men  stood  below,  at  the 
different  landing-places,  to  help  her,  and  her 
brother  handed  her  down  from  above.  Mr. 
Chauncy,  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  she  had  safely 
descended,  was  going  to  attend  to  the  children, 
but  just  at  that  instant  he  missed  his  despatch  bag 
He  asked  where  it  was.  Some  said  they  believed 
it  had  gone  down  the  slide.  There  was  a  sort  of 
slide  by  the  side  of  the  ladder,  where  the  mails 
and  trunks  had  been  sent  down.  Some  said  it 
had  gone  down  this  slide  ;  others  did  not  know. 
So  he  directed  the  children  to  wait  a  moment 
while  he  went  down  to  see.  He  accordingly  de- 
scended the  ladder,  and  began  to  look  about  in 
a  hurried  manner  to  see  if  he  could  find  it.  The 
men  on  board  the  steamer,  in  the  mean  while, 
were  impatient  to  cut  loose  from  the  ship,  the 
mail  agent  having  called  out  to  them  to  make 
haste,  or  they  would  be  too  late  for  the  train. 
Accordingly,  some  of  them  stood  by  the  ladder, 
ready  to  take  it  down  ;  while  others  seized  tho 


The  Arrival.  211 

Despatch  hag  lost.  "  All  right !  " 

ropes  and  prepared  to  cast  them  off  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  as  soon  as  they  should  hear  that 
the  despatch  bag  was  found.  They  did  not 
know  that  the  children  were  at  the  top  of  tho 
ladder,  waiting  to  come  on  board  ;  for  it  was  so 
dark  that  nothing  could  be  seen  distinctly  ex- 
cept where  the  lanterns  were  directly  shining, 
and  the  noise  made  by  the  roaring  of  the  steamer 
was  so  great  that  very  little  could  be  heard. 

Mr.  Chauncy  found  the  despatch  bag  very 
soon  in  the  after  part  of  the  vessel,  where  some- 
body had  put  it  in  a  safe  place.  As  soon  as  he 
saw  it,  he  said,  "  Ah,  here  it  is.     All  right!  " 

"  All  right !  all  right  !  "  said  the  sailors 
around  him,  repeating  his  words  in  a  loud  tone, 
when  they  heard  him  say  that  the  despatch  bag 
was  found.  Mr.  Chauncy  immediately  hurried 
back  to  go  up  the  ladder  to  the  children  ;  but 
he  was  too  late.  On  hearing  the  words  "  all 
right !  "  the  men  had  immediately  drawn  down 
the  ladder,  and  cast  off  the  fastenings,  so  that, 
by  the  time  that  Mr.  Chauncy  reached  the  pad- 
dle box,  the  noise  of  tho  steampipe  had  sudden- 
ly stopped,  the  paddle  wheels  were  beginning  to 
revolve,  and  the  little  steamer  was  gliding  rapid- 
ly away  from  the  vast  and  towering  mass  under 
which  it  had  been  lying. 

"  The  children  !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Chauncy, 
"  the  children ! " 


212  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC, 


The  children  are  left  behind.  They  go  back  to  their  berths. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  the  captain,  in  a  very  quiet 
tone.  "  It's  too  late  now.  I'll  take  care  of  them 
to-morrow  morning." 

The  captain  spoke  in  a  manner  as  calm  and 
unconcerned  as  if  the  children  being  left  in  this 
way  was  not  a  matter  of  the  slightest  consequence 
in  the  world.  In  fact,  the  commanders  of  these 
steamships,  being  accustomed  to  encounter  con- 
tinually all  sorts  of  emergencies,  difficulties,  and 
dangers,  get  in  the  habit  of  taking  every  thing 
very  coolly,  which  is,  indeed,  always  the  best 
way. 

Then,  turning  to  the  children,  he  said,  — 

"  It's  all  right,  children.  Go  below  and  get 
into  your  berths  again,  and  I  will  send  you  on 
shore  to-morrow  morning  when  the  rest  of  the 
passengers  go." 

So  Rollo  and  Jennie  went  be'/ow  again.  The 
chambermaid  was  surprised  to  see  them  coming 
back ;  and  when  she  heard  an  explanation  of  the 
case,  she  advised  them  to  undress  themselves  and 
go  to  bed  regularly.  This  they  did,  and  were 
Boon  fast  asleep. 

The  next  morning,  very  soon  after  sunrise,  an- 
other steamer  came  off  from  the  shore,  bringing 
several  custom-house  officers  to  examine  the  pas- 
sengers' baggage.  By  the  time  that  this  steamer 
had  arrived,  a  great  many  of  the  passengers 


The  Aeeival.  213 

The  steamtug.  Alfred  comes  for  the  children. 

were  up,  and  had  their  trunks  ready  on  deck  to 
be  examined.  Among  the  rest  was  Hilbert  with 
his  trunk,  though  his  father  and  mother  were 
not  yet  ready.  Hilbert  was  very  anxious  to  get 
on  shore,  and  so  he  had  got  his  trunk  up,  and 
was  all  ready  on  the  deck  half  an  hour  before 
the  steamer  came. 

When  the  tug*  came  alongside,  Hilbert,  who 
was  looking  down  upon  her  from  the  promenade 
deck,  observed  a  neatly-dressed  looking  man  on 
board  of  it,  who  seemed  to  be  looking  at  him 
very  earnestly.  This  was  Mr.  Holiday's  ser- 
vant. His  name  was  Alfred.  When  Mr.  Holi- 
day had  gone  to  bed  the  night  before,  he  had 
given  Alfred  orders  that  in  case  the  steamer 
should  come  in  in  the  night,  or  at  a  very  early 
hour  in  the  morning,  before  it  would  be  safe  for 
him,  as  an  invalid,  to  go  out,  he,  Alfred,  was  to 
go  on  board,  find  the  children,  and  bring  them 
on  shore.  Accordingly,  when  Alfred  saw  Hil- 
bert, and  observed  that  he  was  of  about  the 
same  size  as  Rollo  had  been  described  to  him  to 
be,  he  supposed  that  it  must  be  Rollo.  Accord' 
ingly,  as  soon  as  the  tug  was  made  fast,  he  came 
up  the  ladder,  and  immediately  made  his  way  to 

*  They  often  call  these  small  steamers  that  ply  about  harbors 
tugs,  from  the  fact  that  they  are  employed  in  towing  vessels. 
Sometimes  they  are  called  lenders. 


214  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  second  plan  for  landing  the  children  fails. 

the  promenade  deck,  to  the  place  where  Hilbert 
was  standing.  As  he  approached  Hilbert,  ho 
touched  his  hat,  and  then  said,  in  a  very  respect- 
ful tone,  — 

"  Beg  pardon,  sir.     Is  this  Master  Holiday  ?  " 

"  Rollo,  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Hilbert.  "  No. 
Rollo  went  ashore  last  night  with  the  bearer  of 
despatches. 

Hilbert  knew  that  this  was  the  arrangement 
which  had  been  made,  and  he  supposed  that  it 
had  been  carried  into  effect. 

Alfred,  who  was  a  very  faithful  and  trustwor- 
thy man,  and  was  accustomed  to  do  every  thing 
thoroughly,  was  not  fully  satisfied  with  this  in- 
formation, coming  as  it  did  from  a  boy  ;  but  he 
waited  some  little  time,  and  made  inquiries  of 
other  passengers.  At  last,  one  gentleman  told 
him  that  he  was  sure  that  Rollo  had  gone  on 
shore,  for  he  saw  him  and  his  sister  pass  up  out 
of  the  cabin  when  the  mail  tug  came.  He  was 
sitting  up  in  the  cabin  reading  at  the  time. 
Alfred  was  satisfied  with  this  explanation,  and 
so  he  called  a  small  boat  which  was  alongside, 
and  engaged  the  boatman  to  row  him  ashore. 

Thus  the  second  plan  for  taking  care  of  Rollo 
and  Jennie,  in  the  landing,  failed. 

All  this  time  Rollo  and  Jennie  were  both 
asleep  —  for    the    chambermaid,    thinking    that 


The  Arrival.  215 

Examination  of  the  baggage.  Lost  keys. 

they  must  be  tired  from  having  been  up  so 
late  the  night  before,  concluded  to  let  them  sleep 
as  long  as  possible.  While  they  were  sleeping, 
the  waiters  on  board  the  ship  were  all  employed 
in  carrying  up  trunks,  and  boxes,  and  carpet 
bags,  and  bundles  of  canes  and  umbrellas,  from 
all  the  state  rooms,  and  spreading  them  about 
upon  the  decks,  where  the  custom-house  officers 
could  examine  them.  The  decks  soon,  of  course, 
presented  in  every  part  very  bustling  and  noisy 
scenes.  Passengers  were  hurrying  to  and  fro. 
Some  were  getting  their  baggage  together 
for  examination  ;  some  were  unstrapping  their 
trunks  ;  and  others,  having  unstrapped  theirs, 
were  now  fumbling  in  their  pockets,  in  great  dis- 
tress, to  find  the  keys.  It  is  always  an  awkward 
thing  to  lose  a  trunk  key  ;  but  the  most  unfortu- 
nate of  all  possible  times  for  meeting  with  this 
calamity  is  when  a  custom-house  officer  is  stand- 
ing by,  waiting  to  examine  what  your  trunk  con- 
tains. Those  who  could  not  find  their  keys  were 
obliged  to  stand  aside  and  let  others  take  their 
turn.  As  fast  as  the  trunks  were  inspected,  the 
lid  of  each  was  shut  down,  and  it  was  marked 
with  chalk  ;  and  then,  as  soon  as  it  was  locked 
and  strapped  again,  a  porter  conveyed  it  to  the 
tug,  where  the  owner  followed  it,  ready  to  go  on 
shore. 


216  EOLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  captain  inquires  for  the  children. 

In  the  midst  of  this  scene  the  captain  came 
on  deck,  and  began  to  look  around  for  the  chil- 
dren whom  he  had  promised  to  take  care  of. 
He  made  some  inquiries  for  them,  and  at  length 
was  told  that  they  had  gone  ashore. 

"  At  least,  I  think  they  have  gone,"  said  his 
informant.  "  I  saw  Mr.  Holiday's  coachman 
here,  inquiring  for  them,  a  short  time  ago.  And 
he  seems  to  be  gone.  I  presume  he  has  taken 
them  ashore." 

"  He  can't  have  taken  them  ashore,"  said  the 
captain.  "  There  is  nothing  to  go  ashore  till 
this  tug  goes.  However,  I  presume  he  has  got 
them  under  his  charge  somewhere." 

So  the  captain  dismissed  the  subject  from  his 
mind  ;  and  after  remaining  a  few  minutes  on 
deck,  and  seeing  that  every  thing  was  going  on 
well,  he  went  below  into  his  state  room,  in  order 
to  write  a  letter  to  the  owners  of  the  ship,  to 
inform  them  of  the  safe  termination  of  the 
voyage. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  chambermaid 
waked  Hollo  and  Jennie.  They  rose  immediate- 
ly, and  were  soon  dressed.  On  going  up  upon 
the  deck,  they  were  somewhat  surprised  to  wit- 
ness the  bustling  scenes  that  were  enacting  there ; 
and  they  stood  for  a  few  minutes  surveying  the 
various  groups,  and  watering  with  great  interest 


The  Aeeival.  211 


RoIIc  attends  to  the  examination  of  his  trunk. 


the  process  of  examining  the  "baggage.  At 
length,  after  following  the  process  through  in 
the  case  of  one  of  the  passengers,  who  was  just 
opening  his  trunk  when  they  came  up,  Rollo 
turned  to  Jennie,  and  said, — 

"  It  is  nothing  at  all,  Jennie.  I  can  do  it  as 
well  as  any  body." 

So  he  looked  about  till  he  found  his  trunk,  and, 
leading  Jennie  there,  be  took  his  station  by  the 
side  of  it,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  unstrap 
and  unlock  it.  He  took  out  some  of  the  largest 
things  from  the  top  of  the  trunk  and  put  them 
on  a  settee  near,  so  that  the  officer  could  easily 
examine  the  rest.  By  the  time  he  had  done  this, 
an  officer  was  ready. 

"  Is  this  your  trunk,  my  lad  ?  "  said  the  officer, 
at  the  same  time  lifting  up  the  clothes  a  little  at 
the  corners. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  All  right,"  said  the  officer  ;  and  he  shut  down 
'the  lid,  and  marked  the  top  with  a  P. 

Rollo  opened  his  trunk  again  to  put  the  other 
things  in,  and  then  locked  and  strapped  it.  A 
porter  then  took  it  and  carried  it  on  board  the 
tender.     Rollo  and  Jennie  followed  him. 

In  about  half  an  hour  the  tender  put  off  from 
the  steamer  and  went  to  the  shore.  On  the  way, 
Jennie,  who  could  not  help  feeling  some  anxiety 


218  ROLLO    ON    THE    ATLANTIC. 

The  porter  goes  ashore.  Rollo's  trunfc. 

about  the  result  of  these  formidable  t>roceedings, 
said,  timidly, — 

"  I  don't  see  what  we  are  going  to  do,  Rollo, 
when  we  get  to  the  shore." 

"  We  will  do  what  the  rest  do,"  said  Rollo. 

As  soon  as  the  steamer  touched  the  pier  and 
began  to  blow  off  her  steam,  a  terrific  scene  of 
•noise  and  confusion  ensued.  Rollo  and  Jennie 
stood  near  their  trunk,  overawed  and  silenced  ; 
but  yet  Rollo  was  not,  after  all,  much  afraid,  for 
he  felt  confident  that  it  would  all  come  out  right 
in  the  end.  He  was  right  in  this  supposition  ; 
for  as  soon  as  some  fifty  of  the  most  impatient 
and  eager  of  the  passengers  had  got  their  bag- 
gage, and  had  gone  ashore,  the  tumult  subsided 
in  a  great  measure.  At  length,  a  porter,  after 
taking  away  a  great  many  trunks  near  Rollo, 
asked  him  if  that  trunk,  pointing  to  Rollo's, 
was  to  go  on  shore.  Rollo  said  that  it  was.  So 
the  porter  took  it  up  and  went  away,  Rollo  and 
Jennie  following  him. 

They  made  their  way  through  the  crowd,  and 
across  the  plank,  to  the  pier.  When  they  had 
got  upon  the  pier,  the  porter  turned  and  said, 
"  Do  you  want  a  carriage  ?  "  Rollo  answered, 
"  Yes ;"  and  then  the  porter  immediately  put  the 
trunk  upon  the  top  of  a  small  carriage  which  was 
standing  there  in  a  line  with  many  others.     He 


The  Arrival.  219 

Rollo  finds  lis  father,  and  mother,  and  Thanny. 

then  opened  the  door,  and  Rollo  and  Jennie  got 
in. 

"How  much  to  pay,  sir?"  said  Rollo. 

"  Sixpence,  if  you  please,  sir,"  said  the  porter. 

Rollo,  who  had  had  the  precaution  to  provide 
himself  with  silver  change,  so  as  to  be  ready, 
gave  the  man  a  sixpence.  Of  course,  it  was  an 
English  sixpence. 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  the  porter.  "  Where 
shall  he  drive  ?  " 

"  To  the  hotel,"  said  Rollo. 

"  To  what  hotel  ?  "  said  the  porter. 

"Why  — I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo.  "To  — 
to  the  best  hotel." 

"  To  the  Adelphi,"  said  the  porter  to  the  coach- 
man. So  saying,  he  shut  the  door,  and  the 
coachman  drove  away. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  hotel, 
the  landlord,  who  came  out  to  see  who  had 
come,  supposed  at  once  that  his  new  guests  must 
be  Mr.  Holiday's  children  ;  so  he  sent  them  up 
immediately  to  their  father's  parlor,  where  the 
breakfast  table  had  been  set,  and  their  father, 
and  mother  and  Thanny  were  waiting  for  theim, 
The  joy  of  their  parents  at  seeing  them  was  urn- 
bounded,  and  they  themselves  were  almost  equally 
rejoiced  in  finding  their  long  voyage  brought 
thus  to  a  safe  and  happy  termination. 


220        Hollo  on  the  Atlantic. 


Tiger  lost.  Uncertainty  in  respect  to  lier  fate. 

In  respect  to  Tiger,  however,  the  end  of  the 
voyage  was  unfortunately  not  so  propitious.  In 
the  confusion  of  the  landing  she  was  forgotten, 
and  left  behind  ;  and  Jennie  was  so  excited  and 
overjoyed  at  meeting  her  mother,  that  it  ^as 
nearly  noon  before  she  thought  of  the  kitten  at 
all.  Her  father  then  sent  Alfred  on  board  tho 
ship  to  see  if  he  could  get  her.  He  came  back 
with  the  cage,  but  he  said  that  the  kitten  was  no- 
where to  be  found.  He  made  diligent  inquiry, 
but  he  could  obtain  no  tidings  of  her  —  and  no 
tidings  were  ever  afterward  heard.  Whether  she 
fell  overboard  and  was  drowned  ;  or  whether  the 
waiters  on  the  ship  took  a  fancy  to  her,  and  hid 
her  away  somewhere  in  the  forecastle,  in  order 
to  keep  her  for  their  pet  and  plaything  in  future 
voyages  ;  or  whether  she  walked  over  the  plank 
to  the  pier,  when  the  ship  came  alongside  of  it, 
and  there  got  enticed  away  by  the  Liverpool 
cats  into  the  various  retreats  and  recesses  which 
they  resort  to  among  the  docks  and  sewers, — 
could  never  be  known.  At  all  events,  neither 
Jennie  nor  Eollo  ever  saw  or  heard  of  heV 
again. 


